Perks of Being Emily's Girlfriend
by citiznkimberly
Summary: No friends, depression, anger, and feelings of guilt never worked well for Spencer Hastings. Will Emily be there to pull her out of her bad place? AU. Rated M for depression, possible deaths, and somewhat abuse. Spemily AU
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys! Its Kimberly aka chxndelier and here is another one shot I scraped off the surface for you guys. I got my inspiration from the movie Perks of Being a Wallflower! If you haven't seen the movie, I highly recommend you watch it. Oh and if you have read the PLL books, you might see a scene in here that's similar to a certain one in the books AND you might notice that Spencer is kind of like Emily Fields in the books. Also, there are a couple of songs in here that are mentioned from the rock band Fall Out Boy. That band right there is the reason I am still alive honestly. It has helped me through so much shit in my life and is helping me through something right now so, yeah.**

 **Uh so yeah! This one shot may have somewhat abuse in it, slight depression, deaths, and severe blackouts. So if you don't like any of this stuff, please don't read. Enjoy! I loooove you guys.**

Birthdays were always fun. Especially for Spencer Hastings. The tiny girl was turning six years old today and she knew all too well what that meant. Spencer threw the covers from over her and hopped out of her bed, her little feet moving as fast as they could. _Thank God her birthday was on a Saturday this year_. Both of her hands flew around the door knob of her parents' bedroom. As much as she twisted this way or that way, she just couldn't get it open.

"Mommy! Daddy!" The girl called out, her voice squeaking. "Mommy! Daddy! Wake up! It's my birthday! It's my birthday!" She pressed her ear against the door. If she wasn't hallucinating, she was pretty sure she heard footsteps making their way over to the door. The door knob clinked softly and the little girl smiled.

 _She wasn't hallucinating._

And before she could look up, she was being lifted into the air, but it wasn't her neither of her parents.

"Happy birthday, Spencey!"

The little brunette turned her head, her curly locks following with every turn of her head. A huge smile fell onto her face as she wrapped her arms and legs around the figure.

"Uncle Ken!"

The man hoisted his neice on top of his shoulders, but not without letting out a small groan, "Not only did you make six today . . . but it feels like you gained six too!" The little girl and her uncle both let out small balls of laughter.

Uncle Ken then took both of Spencer's hand, holding them with a tight enough grip in which the girl wouldn't fall, "Motorcycle?" He asked, earning a squeal from the little girl on his neck. "Hold on tight, Spencey. This one is for birthday girls only!"

The man turned the newly six year old's hands as if they were handles on a motorcycle and made engine noises with his mouth. After seconds of teasing the tiny girl, he finally began running around the living room as fast as he could, spurs of laughter falling out of Spencer's mouth.

"Alright! Alright Kenneth!" Spencer's dad mumbled, finally making it out of the room. He attempted to rub some of the sleep out of his eyes before looking up at his daughter. A smile appeared on Peter's face when his eyes connected with his six year old daughter's and he saw the way she was smiling.

Peter walked over to his brother and daughter, stopping within arm's length of them. He then placed both of his hands underneath Spencer's armpit and lifted the girl off his brother's shoulders. Spencer found her a spot on her dad's hip and stared lovingly at him. "Daddy, it's my birthday."

"I know sweetheart," his smile widened as he glanced over at his brother to see the exact same loving smile on his brother's face, "And you wanna know what that means, Spencey?!"

The six year old placed a soft kiss on her father's cheek. "I know what it means already." She watched her father's eyebrows lift up in curiosity, "It means that you and mommy and me get to spend the whooole day together."

"And guess who gets to join us?" Spencer shook her head and told her father that she didn't like guessing. He chuckled before answering his own question, "Aria and Ali!"

Spencer's eyes lit up with excitement and the little brunette began squirming in her father's arms. "They are my bestest friends, daddy! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" The six year old girl showered kisses all over her daddy's face. "I love you sooooo much."

"I love you too." Peter placed a firm kiss on his daughter's forehead. "More than you would ever know sweetie."

"Don't forget about me."

Spencer Hastings turned her head away from her father and her eyes fell onto her Uncle Kenneth. "You know I love you a lot Uncle Ken."

Kenneth ruffled his niece's hair and kissed her forehead, "So I'm gonna go pick up Ali and Aria . . . you and your daddy and mommy need to get ready, okay Spencey?" He watched Spencer nod her head, the smile never leaving her face as she thought about the eventful day to come. "Well what are you waiting for? Go wake up mommy and tell her to get dressed!"

* * *

A now thirteen year old Spencer Hastings sat quietly in the chair waiting on her hair stylist to finish their customer. She let her eyes trace over the girl in the chair. _Wow_. She thought. _I will never be that pretty_. Her eyes traced over the blonde's facial features: blue oval shaped eyes, perfectly round face. No acne, no present bumps . . . nothing. The girl in that chair was perfect. Spencer shook the thoughts away from her mind and sighed briefly. The slender brunette shouldn't be looking at girls anyway. _I don't care about girls_. She grabbed one of the _People's_ magazines from the mini table next to her seat. Of course, a lady, whom happened to be Jennifer Lawrence, was on the cover.

The girl groaned to herself and slapped the magazine back on the table. Lately, Spencer had been having strange thoughts about girls . . . and hugging them and kissing them and just touching them in general. Every time the girl had been in the locker room with her field hockey team, she would now always sneak a peek at one of her teammate's bra and sometimes even their bare backs.

The girl didn't know what was going on with her and she was seriously getting scared. And as much as she tried to push the thoughts away every time, it would just keep coming back. Spencer let her eyes drift over to the blonde girl in the chair again.

The blonde's head dropped as soon as Spencer connected her eyes with hers which caused the brunette to wrinkle her eyebrows. Was that girl staring at her too?

"Hanna," Spencer's hair stylist, Jordana, groaned, "If you want this done correctly sweetie, you're going to have to stop moving your head." The lissome brunette smirked to herself, grabbing the magazine she had thrown down earlier and placing it over her face to hide her expression. _So she was looking at me_. And this made Spencer feel really jittery inside.

Her eyes shut tightly as she tried her best not to squeal, the butterflies in her stomach fluttering. Thank God for that magazine she had covering her face. But Spencer's jittery, butterflies feel soon left and was replaced with joy and relief as her two best friends, Aria and Alison walked through the door of the hair salon, the bell jingling on the door as it opened and shut. The girls had a huge smile on their face as they made their way over to Spencer Hastings.

"Happy birthday to the smartest, hottest, dorkiest best friend in the whole wide world!" Aria's voice echoed throughout the salon and the three best friends giggled. Spencer blushed as people that she didn't even know cheered and shouted happy birthday to her. The beautiful Mexican woman that was sitting next to her even wished her a happy birthday in Spanish. The slender girl thanked the woman and she was pretty sure the lady's eyes lit up with obvious excitement. "I can't believe you're officially a teen!"

"It's no big deal." The birthday girl mumbled. She rolled and unrolled the magazine in her hands and looked up at her friends, "What are you doing here Ali? I thought you were going to the mall with Charlotte." Charlotte was an older high school girl that likes to make friends with younger kids, preferably the ones that hadn't made it to high school yet. She, like Ali, was also a blonde and the two got along amazingly well.

"Oh yeah, I did go to the mall with Charlotte . . . and so did Aria."

Spencer's eyebrows rose in slight disbelief. "But before you get all offensive, we only went to get you a birthday gift." Alison nudged Aria and the small girl began fidgeting through her purse, her pink streaks peeking through her natural colored hair. Only seconds later, she had pulled out a small, wrinkled paper bag that looked as if it had been decorated with marker and crayons. Aria Montgomery handed the bag over to her brunette best friend, a smile forming on Spencer's face. "Happy birthday, dork."

Spencer took the bag from her friend and stuck her hand inside, feeling nothing but the tissue at first but once she stuck her hand farther done the bag, she felt another box . . . necklace box. She pulled the box out of the bag and placed the decorative bag on the floor, making sure not to wrinkle it. Alison DiLaurentis flipped her hair over to one side, "I'm guessing you like the bag?" Spencer nodded. "Thanks! Aria helped me decorate it of course. I wanted to do something original . . . something you can keep, you know?"

"I love it."

The field hockey player's smile grew larger on her face as she opened the box. Inside the box was a necklace. _I was right._ The girl thought to herself as she picked up the silver necklace. The necklace had a heart shaped locket in the middle of the chain. Spencer looked up at her friends, her eyes showing nothing but pure appreciation and love for the two girls standing over her. Aria encouraged her to open the locket, eager to help Spencer find her other surprise and the birthday girl did as she was told. And inside the heart shaped locket was a picture of the three girls when they had took a summer trip to Disneyland with their families. Boy, did they have fun that year.

Also, inside the locket was a small message to Spencer. It read: _We love you, S. –AD & AM_

"It was Char's idea. Aria and I couldn't find anything that you would like and we figured that you wouldn't want any more clothes considering you already have a closet full and then—" Alison stopped her rambling as she sound of giggling invaded her ears. The giggling got louder as she three girls looked over to the person who was doing the deed and Spencer could have sworn her heart had skipped a beat as she stared at the smile on the blonde girl's lips.

Jordana was finally done with her hair and now ruffling it a little bit. Black streaks peeked from the tips of the blonde girl's hair. "And what's so funny, blondie?"

Jordana ushered the girl out of the chair and waved for Spencer to come over. Spencer sat the _People's_ magazine back in its rightful spot and shot up from her seat, but not before taking one last look at the beautiful girl that had just gotten out of the chair. The seat was somewhat warm due to the long amount of hours someone had been sitting in it.

"Nothing," the girl's giggles soon died down. "It's just . . . you were rambling and I find it funny when people ramble."

Alison's eyes narrowed and she looked over to her best friend, "What does rambling even mean, Spencer?" The four girls plus Jordana erupted into even more giggles. The thirteen year old shook her head and told her blonde bestie what the word had meant. Alison's eyes rose and her cheeks puffed. Spencer's blonde best friend shrugged her shoulders and turned to Hanna, "I tend to do that a lot."

"You want the wash, rinse, and style, S?" Jordana asked, ruffling her skinny fingers through Spencer's thick locks. Spencer smiled to herself, her response shocking both of her best friends.

"I want to dye it dark blonde."

* * *

Once someone loses their best friends, it's like losing the breath from their body. The feeling you get when you lose your best friends is like . . . the feeling you get when you drop your _brand new_ iPhone, but a little worse. You can replace a phone, but you can't replace true friends that you've known for your entire life.

Spencer sighed to herself, a tear slipping down her cheek. The girl was starting her first year of high school today and she would have been excited if she was with her friends, Alison DiLaurentis and Aria Montgomery.

Five months ago, a day before Spencer's birthday, the slender blonde had a party for her birthday. Aria and her dad were on their way over from Aria's uncle's house and while they were on their way over to Spencer's party, they had gotten into a car accident. Byron, Aria's dad, only had a broken leg for two months and a couple of scars, but Spencer's friend, Aria didn't make it at all.

The now fifteen year old girl remembered that day like it was yesterday. She remembered being on the phone with her friend a few hours before bragging to her about her new adult bike she had gotten for her birthday. She remembered telling her mom not to start anything without Aria. And she also remembered her and Alison bawling their eyes out that whole night.

 _It was the worst birthday ever_.

A single tear slid down her cheek. Alison DiLaurentis said she had to move in with her mom because her dad was having trouble keeping up with the bills and taking care of her at the same time. "She never cared about me anyway." Spencer remembered Alison telling her. And that was true.

When Aria passed away, Alison spent almost every night at Spencer's house because her father had to work and she didn't want to be alone while dealing with the loss of her best friend. It had been just yesterday the blonde girl had been picked up by her mother.

"Spencer," the girl's room door creaked open and her mother picked her through it, "Come on honey, you're going to be late."

The girl slipped her fingers through her blonde hair and visibly cringed as the tips of her hair came into view. Two years ago, she thought dying her hair blonde was cute and that it showed a little bit of her true self, but now she was thinking that it was just to impress her friend and family.

Her mother pursed her lips, "I made you a hair appointment after school. Lets go Spencer . . . now."

"I'll just take my bike."

Veronica's face fell and she slipped the rest of her body through the door, "I thought you said it gave you a bad feeling."

Spencer's heart fell. The bike did give her a bad feeling. And she was pretty sure it always will. The bike made Spencer feel like the death of her tiny best friend was her fault. If only she hadn't had her party so early and on that day, Aria probably would still be alive and she wouldn't have to attend her first day of high school alone.

Veronica took one step toward her daughter and Spencer took a moment to take her mother's face in. She couldn't help but notice the blue blemish across her cheek that her mother didn't do a good job at covering with makeup. The fifteen year old's eyes furrowed. _Did he hit her?_

"Mom, please tell me that you've been eating something blue and you so happened to miss your mouth." The girl's jaw clenched and unclenched. "Did he hit you?"

Veronica's delicate fingers touched the side of her cheek, flinching automatically at the stinging sensation that ran through her cheek. Her eyes focused on Spencer's wooden tile, "Spencer, stay out of this. You know what happened last time you tried to prevent it."

It was Spencer's turn to flinch. Yes, she remembered exactly what happened when she tried to come between her mother and father's bickering. Her father was so angry that day . . . but so was Spencer. Peter had found out that Veronica had retired early from her job due to her absences of being sick from Breast Cancer.

Spencer's mother was so sad that day and Peter couldn't even give her the slightest sympathy. He had been drinking that night when Veronica had decided to tell him that she had retired early. The confession had turned into one big argument which led to Spencer's father hitting her mother.

And Spencer had all but lost it. _Literally_.

When the twelve year old saw her father hit her mother, she blacked out and when she came to, her mother had a wide eyed expression on her face and her father was on the floor with a bloody nose. And afterwards, she had remembered telling her father to never touch Veronica again.

And that's all the girl remembered from that day.

"Spencer?" The girl came to by her mother waving her hands in her face, "Helloooo? Earth to Spencer."

The thirteen year old nodded her head, her breathing quickly increasing. She brushed past her mother and headed down the stairs, Veronica shouting her name but Spencer didn't want to hear it. As she reached the end of the stairs, her father's figure came into view.

"Morning Spencey, ready for your—?"

"Touch my mom again and I will seriously hurt you." Peter's face fell and Veronica rushed down the stairs, stopping at the last step to watch Spencer's next actions, "She's sick, Dad. What is wrong with you?"

She took a step closer to her father, his warm breath hitting her nose.

"Spencer, stop." Veronica called out, stepping over to her daughter and pulling her backwards. "Let's just go."

The thirteen year old girl snatched her hand away from her mom, her face twisting into one of disgust at her father. She shook her head slowly and spoke, "I told you I'm riding my bike. You need to get some rest anyway." She turned away from Peter, his face still sad. Spencer grabbed her mother's shoulders and tossed her a soft smile. "I'll be home early today. You stay safe, okay? I love you."

Veronica nodded and wrapped her arms around her daughter, the lanky girl quickly reciprocating. Seconds later, the hug was broken and Spencer headed out the door, not even passing her father a glance.

Spencer sighed. _Is this what freshmen year is gonna be like_? The girl thought. Charlotte had told her that it wasn't going to be easy, but the younger girl had thought she meant the homework and just work in general wasn't going to be easy.

Classical music sounded throughout the hallways, signaling for Spencer's next class. _Photography 1_. The girl read from her schedule. A small smile appeared on the slender girl's lips. Her best friend, Aria Montgomery had let her have one of her cameras because she said, in quote, "You need to learn about the beauty of things through a picture, S." And ever since that day, she couldn't let the Fuji instant camera out of her sight.

 _Room B-26_

The girl's eyes immediately brightened. This was the same room she was in this morning . . . and it was the English classroom . . . with her _hot_ English teacher, Ms. Fields.

 _At least something good will come out of this day_.

The lanky blonde rushed to the classroom as the classical was coming to an end. Spencer knew this because she had memorized the classical music in third period since someone said that they were going to use that same song every day. She shut her eyes tightly as the music abruptly stopped. _Shit. Late on the first day . . . not good, Spence_. She thought to herself and walked up to the room door.

The girl took a deep breath before knocking softly, her heart stomping against her chest as she prepared herself for the enormous amount of faces she was about to see. Heels clacked against the floor getting closer and closer and then they stopped.

Spencer nervously adjusted the straps on her backpack. The door creaked open and Spencer's eyes followed until they came in contact with tan legs. Legs that could go on for days and months, even.

Her eyebrows crinkled. _This isn't Mrs. Fields_. Her eyes traveled up the person's long legs, meeting a pair of blue jean shorts and a red shirt that read: _Red Is The New Gay_. The lanky blonde let out a soft giggle, her eyes still traveling upwards meeting a pair of beautiful, hershey brown orbs.

The girl could have sworn her heart stopped. _This is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my life_.

"Caroline!" The breathtaking girl squealed, taking Spencer by the wrist and pulling her in, "We have a person that actually came to school on the first day!"

"How many times do I have to tell you that my name is Mrs. Fields when we are in school, Emily?" Spencer recognized Ms. Fields' voice. The lady was in the closet, searching for something.

"Hello! I'm Emily," Emily held out her hand to Spencer excitedly, "And I'm Ms. Fields' senior assistant. What's your name?"

Spencer smiled and took the girl's hand, giving it a firm shake, "Spencer." She whispered, her voice still a bit shaky from all the butterflies that were fluttering in her stomach. "Hastings."

The two girls dropped their handshake as they heard a loud crash coming from the closet where Ms. Fields was. Emily groaned and rolled her eyes. Spencer was about to ask her more about herself because _God, she was so beautiful_. But the girl had already started running towards the closet.

"Damnit Car, what the fuck?"

"Watch your mouth and help me fix this camera!"

"No, I don't want to get blamed for anything you did. In case you haven't noticed, I might be graduating in June, but until then, I'm still a student here and I could get it expelled. I'm not touching that damned thing."

Spencer couldn't help but let out a soft laugh as she headed for the closet the two girls were bickering in. She leaned against the frame of the closet door as she watched Ms. Fields try to place the lens back on the camera.

Emily just stood there watching the helpless teacher with her arms crossed.

Spencer shook her head and let out an amused sigh, "It isn't broken." The fifteen year old commented, startling the two girls. "Who's the person that is supposed to be teaching me about photography again?"

Spencer laughed loudly as Ms. Fields pointed to Emily, but Emily pointed to Ms. Fields. "What? Did they not expect people to actually take this class so they hired an English teacher with an amateur photographer as an assistant?"

Emily laughed, taking the camera and the lens from the English teacher and quickly placing the lens back on and tossing a smirk at Spencer. "Four years of photography, Hun. I'm pretty sure there's nothing amateur about me."

Spencer pursed her lips while she nodded, definitely impressed. The girl stood up straight and glanced over at Ms. Fields who was throwing daggers at Emily through her eyes. "You okay, Ms. Fields?"

Emily took a step closer to the fifteen year old girl and as quickly as it came, it went away quicker. Spencer's confidence had disappeared. She shrank back as Emily stepped closer and closer.

The senior's crinkly brunette hair swayed back and forth, "Listen here, _fresh meat_. I don't know who you are, but if you ever call me an amateur again, I will ruin your first year of high school."

Spencer's breath caught in her throat. Not because of the threat but because of how clear her face was. _She is sooo gorgeous_. The girl thought in her head for the umpteenth time since she saw the fifteen minutes ago.

After a few more seconds of intense staring, Emily finally took a step back and her and Ms. Fields burst into laughter, leaving Spencer completely confused.

The two girls slapped each other's hands, still laughing, their eyes watering and they began clenching their stomachs.

"You should . . . seen the look . . . on your face, Spencer." Ms. Fields recalled in between laughs slash breaths. "You were so scared."

 _Actually I was too busy looking at her beautiful face to be scared about anything_. The girl thought to herself, but smiled anyway.

"Yeah . . . uh scared." The fifteen year old exited the frame of the closet and walked back into the classroom, sitting in the same desk she had sat in while she was in this same classroom earlier. The seat closest to the door. "Ms. Fields, did you teach Emily her freshmen year also?"

"Nope," Emily laughed. Her full body came into view, holding two Canon cameras as she walked over to Ms. Fields' desk and sat on the top of it, "They wouldn't dare let her teach her sister. The school board was afraid that she was going to give me special privileges so instead, I spent all of my English one year in Mr. Fitz's class. He's a way better teacher anyway."

"Hey!" A squeaky voice sounded from the closet. "I'm slightly offended by the last part of your sentence."

Spencer laughed and looked around the classroom, avoiding eye contact with Emily. _Sisters, huh? That explains why they both are hot_.

"So I think I saw you at lunch . . . you were the girl who got a gravy steak launched at your chest." Emily giggled, eyeing the fifteen year old girl's shirt, immediately sighting the gravy stain. Spencer blushed. "It's okay . . . we were both sitting by ourselves today."

The girl held her head up, "Don't you have friends from the four years you've been here?"

The brunette scoffed. "Nah, I'm pretty antisocial around jerks. It's like all the seniors here this year are jerks. The seniors last year were so much nicer and fun."

"It's only day one, sis." English teacher came out of the closet, "You never know what might happen between tomorrow and June."

Emily sighed, her chest deflating as she let out more and more breath. "Are you coming to the swim meet tonight? You know, to cheer me on?"

"Of course!" Caroline slapped her sister lightly on the shoulder. "I'm always at your swim meets."

Spencer's eyes widened, "There's a swim team here? I've always wanted to be apart of a swim team!" The girl bounced excitedly.

"Well duh, Spencer." Emily chuckled, her hair bouncing with every chuckle. "You didn't do your research before you decided you wanted to come to Rosewood High?"

The lanky girl shrugged. "I guess I like surprises."

"Well . . . do you want to join me?" The English teacher asked, "Emily would like the support."

Emily handed Spencer a camera while nodding. "Yeah Spence, and maybe you could stay after school and watch our practice. You know, see if you want to join? We actually had like, only three freshmen come to conditioning during the summer."

The slender girl took the camera from Emily, their hands coming in contact with one another and the freshmen could have sworn a short circuit of electricity flowed through her veins. _Woah_. She thought. "Uh . . . uh yeah, sure. That sounds great." Spencer mumbled.

Emily nodded and pulled the girl from the desk, towards the door. "Great! Now come on, we have pictures to take."

"Yeah," Caroline added, "Uh your first assignment of the year is to supposedly find things around the school that resembles the letters of the alphabet."

The twelfth grader groaned, "Oh god."

"This should be easy." Spencer spoke, staring at Emily's fingers around her wrist. "I think while I was walking out of the A building, I saw like four things that looked like alphabet."

"Well then," Caroline pushed the girls out of the classroom, "Go find alphabet. I have summer reading assignments to grade . . . did you do yours Miss Hastings?"

"Of course, I—"

"No one cares!" Emily rolled her eyes, "Let's go."

The senior brunette dragged Spencer down the hall, Spencer's smile spreading across her face. Emily let go of the girl's hand, turning around and snapping a quick picture of the girl completely off guard.

"Wow," she commented. "To say it was an off guard, you sure did look prepared." She showed the picture to fifteen year old and the girl almost choked.

 _God, I'm so ugly. Look at that beauty mark._

Emily looked at Spencer. "What? You don't like it?"

The lanky blonde shook her head, the smile evaporating slowly. She played with the camera in her hands, "No . . . I mean, I'm . . . uh nothing."

"You can tell me." The swimmer nudged the smaller girl and tossed her a small smirk, "I promise I can keep a secret."

Spencer shook her head, "It's nothing, really." She took a picture of the wall, "If you tilt the camera just a little bit, the lines on the wall kind of look like the letter X."

Emily tossed Spencer a sympathetic look and slumped her shoulder. Instead of trying to get whatever it was out of the little girl, she just decided to let it go. She held the camera up to her left eye, tilting it, and then snapping a picture. "So what made you wanna join photography?"

Spencer's eyes fell, but tried her hardest to plaster a small smile on her face, "One of my best friends let me have one of her instant cameras . . . you know, the ones that when you take a picture, it gives you the pictures immediately afterwards?" Emily nodded and waited for the girl to continue, "She gave me one of hers and I absolutely fell in love with it."

"There's a G." She pointed to the handicapped sign on the bathroom door. The two girls quickly snapped a picture before, once again, making her way back down the hall towards the A building, "Does your friend go here?"

"She's dead, actually." Spencer blurted, "She got in a car accident a day before _my_ birthday coming to _my_ birthday party . . . can you believe that?" She laughed, sarcastically.

"There's an S." The fifteen year old pointed towards the school digital clock that read 2:15. "The five looks like an S."

"Spencer . . ." Emily's voice at its quietest, her whisper echoing throughout the hallways. "I'm sorry. I didn't know that—"

The freshmen shook her head. The girl forced a smile on her face, her heart cracking in her chest. "No it's totally fine. You can ask me whatever you want."

When the final bell rang for school, Spencer ran to the bathroom to call her mother, not wanting anyone to know who she was calling. Her plan was unsuccessful as for when she stepped foot into the bathroom, there was a huge group of eleventh graders who tossed smirks at her and made kissy faces every time she said "Mom". She heard someone mutter "loser" and then another whisper "What a baby.". The tiny girl groaned and said goodbye to her mother.

After she had convinced her mom that she was going to be safe and that her _senior_ friend was going to give her and her bike a ride home, she hurried to the natatorium to watch Emily swim. For their A to Z assignment, the girls only had two letters left and then they would have the whole Photography class to themselves for the rest of the week. And that meant the fifteen year old girl could get to know her perfect friend a lot more. _God, she was so beautiful_. Spencer thought.

She found her a spot on the empty bleachers and began searching for Emily. Her eyes wandered around the natatorium. _Nope . . . nope . . . nope. Where the hell is she_?

"Where were you?" A voice asked, startling Spencer and echoing through the natatorium. The girl looked over her shoulders. _Emily . . . in a swimsuit._ "I thought I told you to meet me in the locker room, silly. God, you freshmen just don't listen to any advice we have to offer."

The brunette shrugged. "I forgot, I guess . . . my bad."

The swimmer laughed and took a seat next her new friend. Emily turned her head towards Spencer and let her eyes roam over the girl's face. "So how was your first day?" She whispered quietly enough for only Spencer to hear. "Any classes you _really_ like?"

Spencer turned her head, her eyes coming in contact with Emily's. The swimmer's Hershey colored eyes making a smile form across her face. All of the girl's hair was suffocating inside the cap on her head except that one string that stood out oh so lonely. Her eyelashes curling perfectly, almost but not touching her eyebrows. "I really like my Photography class. I feel like that's going to be my favorite class throughout the entire school year."

The senior smiled softly, her eyes never leaving Spencer's. "Why do you say that?"

"Because there's this girl that made me laugh the whole class period . . . and my favorite teacher is in charge of the class too."

Emily tapped her chin. "Tell me more about the girl that made you laugh. What does she look like? I probably know her."

Spencer's erupted into a big ball of laughter and watched as the twelfth grader started laughing also. If the girl hadn't known better, it seemed as if Emily was flirting with her. "Well uhm, she's a senior and—"

"Fields!" A feminine voice called out. Spencer had assumed that it was the coach, "Get over here and bring your friend!"

The freshmen's eyebrows furrowed as she eyed Emily, but all she got from the girl was a wide smirk, "Welcome to the Rosewood High Swim Team, Spencer Hastings." The look of confusion soon turned into a look of complete and utter surprise.

"No effing way, Emily." The blonde was soon lifted from her seat on the bleachers and dragged by the pool. The woman eyed Spencer from head to toe and nodded impressively.

"What's your weight, kid?"

The ninth grader gulped nervously, "One fifteen ma'am." The woman ooed and clapped excitedly, passing a look of pure impressiveness at Emily. Team members flooded around Spencer. She recognized some of the faces, but one in particular stood out to her. _It was the girl that threw the gravy steak at her_. The fifteen year old narrowed her eyes at the girl, and the girl tossed her a look of regret. _Sorry_. The unknown girl's eyes read and it was like Spencer understood what she was trying to say perfectly, but still didn't care. _Whatever_. The lanky blonde rolled her eyes and focused back on the coach.

"Perfect weight! What about your Ape Index?"

Spencer hugged herself, "My what?"

The girl who threw the gravy steak at Spencer made her way through the crowd of swimmers and placed her arm around the coach, "She has a lot to learn, coach. I have a lot to teach her."

The girl's eyebrows crinkled again, "What do you mean _you_ have a lot to teach me?"

"Yeah," Emily added, "Coach, I thought I was the one in charge of teaching the newbies this year since I _am_ the new team captain . . . right?"

Coach nodded her head, "That's right, Emily, but since Paige here didn't show up to Swimming conditioning over the summer, she didn't know about the slight change of plans."

Spencer snickered as Paige's mouth opened and closed. "But- But coach . . . Emily is _gay_. We can't let those type of people be around our newbies. She's going to scare them away. We already have girls scared to change into—"

"Stop that," The fifteen year old blurted out, unable to stop herself from talking, "Stop saying stuff like that about her. Just because she likes girls doesn't mean she's no different than the other girls. I bet she's the best swimmer on this team, which is why she's team captain. And you know what, her being gay isn't the thing that's scaring me. . . it's your homophobia that makes me want to run out of the natatorium and go home."

Spencer turned her head towards Emily to see a shocked expression on her face. The slender girl shrugged her shoulders lightly and tossed her a soft smile.

"Oookay," Coach chuckled while looking at the look on Paige's face, "So kid, do you want to practice with us today?"

The freshmen held her hand out to the coach, "My name is Spencer Hastings," she waited for the coach to shake her hand, "I'll just sit out today, if you don't mind, of course."

Coach shrugged and gave Spencer a pat on the back, "Stay close to the pool though. No bleachers." The brunette nodded, "Captain, get her a Sharks jacket." The lady smiled and Emily also gave Spencer a thankful pat on the back, before heading towards the locker room, in search of a new jacket for Spencer.

"Welcome to the team, Hastings . . . okay team! In the water, now! Let's go! We have a game in three hours!"

It was late when Spencer, Caroline, and Emily stepped out of Rosewood High, but it was _so_ worth it. The Sharks had won by a landslide and the natatorium was full of students from the opposing team and Rosewood.

"See Spencer, swimming is awesome." Emily smiled, tying the bike on top of the car. "And hopefully, we don't get pulled over with this big bike on top of my car." She chuckled, "But if we do, Caroline is paying for my ticket."

"Yep," the teacher added, "But only because mom would kill you . . . wait, that would be great. Then I won't have to tell you to do your homework all the damned time!"

Spencer smiled at how cute the two girls were and shook her head, "Congratulations Emily, you guys did great."

"We will do better once you're in the water, I bet." The senior smiled and gave Spencer a pat back on the back. "Oh Car, did I tell you that Spencer totally shut Paige McCullers down today?" Caroline's eyes shot up and she crossed her arms over chest, signaling for Emily to continue, "Okay so, Paige said something about me scaring kids away because I was gay and Spencer went all incoming teenage society on her."

Spencer laughed, "What is incoming teenage society?"

Caroline rolled her eyes and pressed the button on Emily's keychain to unlock the door, "It's Emily's way of saying that you guys are very supportive of the LGBTQ plus community. It's why she has only freshmen friends." The lady handed the swimmer her keys. "Okay Em, it's like really late . . . take Spencer home."

"We are not going home just yet."

Spencer's head snapped towards Emily. The twelfth grader had a small smirk on her face, "What do you mean?"

"Yeah Emily," Caroline narrowed her eyes at the girl. "What _do_ you mean? You know what time mom wants you home."

Emily waved her hand at the girl and opened the passenger's door for Spencer, "Home schmome. It's too early to go home. Spencer and I are going to the after party."

"Hell . . . _no_."

* * *

Music thumped in their ears as the two girls walked through the door of Paige McCullers's house. After thirty minutes of convincing her teacher that she was going to be fine hanging with the big kids, Spencer shrugged her shoulders back and shot Emily an amused look.

"Don't ever make me lie to her again." She had said to the girl and the swim captain replied with a, "Well if we're going to be hanging out together, you're gonna have to tell her bigger lies than that in the future."

The senior girl linked her arm with Spencer's and the fifteen year old's mouth flew open. _Chill, Spencer. Don't freak out_. She told herself as they walked further into the house, more and more people filling the space.

"Ugh _god_ , the music here is awful." Emily scowled. "Is this . . . _Hot N Cold_?"

Spencer closed her mouth, gulped, and decided to speak again, "Yeah it is." She tried to unlink her arm away but Emily shot her a look, "What?" The freshmen asked.

The twelfth grader shrugged, "Nothing." The two girls walked further into the house, Emily stopping and plastering a smirk on her face, "Oh look, the _ex_ swim captain."

Paige turned around at the word swim and her face twisted into a look of disgust, "Why are you here, Fields? Didn't I tell you that there were no dykes allowed?"

Spencer's heart thumped in her chest. Her blood boiled and her fists clenched and unclenched. The girl shut her eyes tightly, _Breath Out. Breathe In_. She told herself, remembering the methods her counselor had taught her. _Inhale. Exhaaale. Come on Spencer, calm down. They are just words. Inhaaaale. Exhhhaale._

"Yeah," A girl added from behind Paige, "You and the lesbo fresh meat can go home." _Inhale_.

"They are so gross." _Exhale_. Spencer shut her eyes tighter, trying to block out the sounds.

 _Spencer_. A voice in Spencer's head, murmured. _Spencer, no_.

"Lesbians." Someone sang. "Emily and Spencer sitting in the tree. K - I - S - S - I -"

 _BLACKOUT_.

 _Blackness everywhere. Everywhere she turned, there was black. She looked behind her, black. She now felt like she was spinning. Spinning, circles. Black . . . spinning . . . circles . . ._

 _"Spencer?" Someone called out for her, but she couldn't see anyone. "Spencer, open your eyes. It's Aria."_

 _"Aria?" She spoke, and as dark as it was, it seemed like it was getting darker, "Aria, can you hear me?! Aria please!"_

 _"Spencer! Open your eyes!"_

"It's Emily!"

The lanky blonde's eyes snapped open, the room spinning, her vision blurred. She was back at the party, where there was light. The music had stopped playing though. Everyone was looking at her, some expressions were amazed and the rest were terrified.

 _Why are they looking at me_?

Emily stared at the girl in shock and fear, her hands on both sides of Spencer's shoulders now. "You're okay, you're okay." She reassured herself, taking the girl into her arms and holding her tight.

The fifteen year old was still confused, "Why is everyone looking at me?" She whispered in Emily's ear and the hug was now broken, Emily turned her attention to something on the freshmen's hands.

The slender girl followed Emily's eyes, her own eyes widening at her now bloody hands, "Oh god." The circle of people then broke out into a big ball of whispers.

 _"Did you just see that?"_

 _"Who the hell is Aria?"_

 _"Did she kill Paige?"_

 _Kill_? Spencer's eyes watered as she turned her body, turning her attention to the floor. Four girls were surrounding the laid out body. She wasn't dead, but she had a bloody nose, a few scars on her lip, and a swollen eye.

Tears fell from her eyes, "Did I . . .?" She didn't even have to finish her sentence because mostly everyone nodded their heads.

The team captain grabbed both of the fifteen year olds hands, not really caring whether or not she was getting blood on her hands, "Maybe this party was a bad idea . . . let's go home, Spencer."

 _But you just got here_.

 _No, let her stay_.

 _Paige deserved it_.

 _No, I want her number_.

 _I like her, though_.

Kids from the huge circle began to say and Emily glanced at the crowd of people, "Sorry guys, she has to go."

Spencer hugged herself and began walking to the door with Emily. Behind her, someone called her name. She turned in her standing position and saw three girls running towards her. "No one has ever stood up to Paige before. Twice in one day, to be exact. I have mad respect for you . . . and if you ever need anything from us, you got it." A blonde said with a genuine smile on her face. "I'm Sara."

"Phoebe." The girl with the black hair behind Sara said, "And yeah, all of that what Sara said."

"Mona." The shortest girl of the three smiled and Spencer smiled back and nodded at the girls. "And Emily, thanks for bringing such a cool girl over, even if it was only for like, twenty minutes."

 _Cool_? Nope. _Lame_? Yes. _Unable to control my anger_? Yes. _Depressed_? Yes. _Crazy_? Yes.

The senior nodded at the girls and opened the passenger door for Spencer to get in. And when the younger girl was all settled, she ran over to the driver's side opening the door and getting inside. The older girl released a long, deep sigh and looked over at Spencer, "You okay?" Spencer nodded, not passing a glance at Emily. She swimmer started the car and glanced at Spencer one more time before pulling off, "Look. I'm sorry I brought you to this party. I'm sorry I'm gay . . . I'm just sorry for everything. I just wanted to make a friend."

The freshmen buckled her seatbelt and a small smile appeared on her face, "You're saying you're sorry for being gay? That's crazy."

Emily kept her eyes on the road. "What do you mean?"

"Being gay isn't a flaw Emily. It's who you are and if you don't realize that by now, I don't know what to tell you. This is why the LGBTQ plus community aren't getting that much positive feedback from the "older" generations . . . we have to show them that we aren't afraid to speak out. Stop hiding behind the fact that because you're gay, the hate isn't going to stop and you're bound to get hate. It will, and the more we stand up for ourselves, the quicker people will understand that we are human too and we deserve to be treated fairly."

The swim captain puffed her cheeks and exhaled deeply, "Wow . . . you're totally right . . . and freakishly good. You know, you should speak at our pep rallies."

Spencer laughed softly, resting her head against the window, "No thank you. I'm fine just talking to you for now."

Emily released a smile, "Well . . . if that's the case, do you mind me asking what that was back there at the party?" And just as quickly as the younger girl's smile came, it went away twice as fast, "Uh, fuck, I'm sorry. Too soon, I know."

"Um no, it's fine." She laughed nervously, fiddling with the seatbelt, "Well it started like two year ago, I think . . . my parents were fighting and I got really angry and I just saw black. And when I came to, my father was on the floor and my mom had the most terrified look on her face."

But today . . . I don't know what happened. It seemed like the room was spinning and my blackout seemed much longer than the one I just explained . . . and I . . ." She paused to sniff as she felt the tears forming in her eyes, "And I . . . um, I heard my dead best friend calling my name and it was just . . ." The younger girl shrugged her shoulders, her voice at a whisper. "Can you tell me what happened?"

The swim captain turned her head briefly to take a look at Spencer then she directed her attention back on the road, taking a left onto a dark street. "Well uh . . . you almost killed her. First you pushed her to the ground and . . . and then you got on top of her and started screaming someone's name. I pulled you off of her, then you started kicking her . . . and uh, I think I called your name and you stopped."

"Aria."

Emily nodded, her car screeching to a halt in front of Spencer's house, "That's her. Was she your best friend . . . you know, the—"

"Yeah." Her cheeks puffed and her eyes kept straight. Emily's mouth made a small o shape and her fingers tapped the steering wheel, "Um thanks for the awesome, bloody first day."

The senior chuckled, "Thanks for the words of wisdom." She replied, her cheeks fiery red and staring at Spencer's face. "I'll see you at school tomorrow?"

"Yeah, but I won't be there for first and second period so, tell _Caroline_ to mark me present anyway."

"Why won't you be at school for first and second?"

The slender girl turned her head towards her house, her eyes softening as she had seen that the kitchen light was still on, "I have to make sure my mom is okay."

The swimmer nodded, "Fair enough . . . so I'll see you after lunch then?"

Spencer unbuckled her seatbelt and got out the car, shutting the door behind her. She leaned against the frame of the window. Her almond shaped orbs connected with Emily's Hershey colored ones, electricity flying through both of the girls' bodies. "I wouldn't miss Photography class with the coolest chick in school . . . not by a chance."

The twelfth grader's hands clenched the steering wheel tight and she leaned her head down more to get a better view of Spencer, "Goodnight _freshmeat_."

Emily watched as Spencer backed away from the car, "Goodnight Emily." Spencer waved and Emily waved back.

"Wait!" The swim captain shouted softly. Spencer looked at her confused, but all Emily did was point her index finger in the air. She then got out of the car and a sudden whoosh of realization had hit the younger girl.

 _My bike_.

Emily's almost dry cascaded perfectly down her shoulders as Emily untied the bike for the top of the car, "I'm glad we didn't get pulled over." She laughed and Spencer let out a high pitched mhm.

"Here ya go!" The older brunette smiled, pulling the bike from the top of the car and letting the rope fall to the floor, "It would have been mine if it were still on my car by daylight."

The lanky girl nodded, grabbing the handlebars of the bike and pushing towards her house, "Well I reeeaally appreciate the fact that you didn't steal my bike." She joked, earning a goofy, but adorable thumbs up from Emily. "Bye."

A few seconds later, Emily's engine roared and disappeared down the street. _Car, car, go away and please come again some other day cause Spencer wants to see Emily again. Car, car go away._

Once Spencer stepped foot on the first step, she leaned down and retrieved the spare key from under the rug. When the door was unlocked, the girl slid off her shoes and placed the key back under the rug. Her socks hit the cold floor and a small shiver fled through her spine. Her parents always kept it cool in the house. _Too cool_ in the house. She skipped out of the kitchen, not forgetting to turn the light off and headed into the front room. Spencer stopped in her tracks.

 _Mom_.

There was her mother, sleeping on the couch. Looking comfy, but not comfy enough. The freshmen walked quietly into her parent's room to see if her dad was in the bed. He wasn't. So Spencer took some sheets off the bed, bringing them into the front room and covering her mom up with them. She gave her mom a firm kiss on the forehead, "I love you mommy. Sleep tight."

As Spencer made her way towards the stairs, she heard a voice, "Is she sleeping okay?"

The girl rolled her eyes and turned on her heel. "And _why_ exactly do you care?" Her attitude strong, "Haven't you been with her all day?"

Peter stepped a little bit closer to Spencer, his breath strong of alcohol, "She's my wife. The mother of my baby girl . . . _Hiccup_ of course I'm going to care." Spencer rolled her eyes once more, "And to answer your second question, yes and no. I've been in and out of the barn."

The lanky blonde crossed her arms over her chest, "Maybe you should sleep in the barn tonight, Peter, okay?"

The girl's father took a swig of beer from his bottle of alcohol. The brand looked like it had been torn or scraped off so Spencer didn't know the power of whatever he had. All the girl knew was that it was alcohol. "What's wrong with your hands?" He man asked, grabbing the girl's hand. "Ish th- _Hiccup_ \- blood?"

The fifteen year old snatched her hands away and walked back over to her mom, "Mom." She shook her mom softly, "Mommy, wake up." Her mother groaned and her eyes opened slowly.

"Spencer?"

"Come on Mom, you're sleeping with me tonight. I don't trust him around you." The last part of the sentence sounded bad coming out of Spencer's mouth, but she didn't care and honestly, if Veronica had to add, she didn't trust him anymore either.

"Okay." She murmured, her voice full of sleepiness. "Do you think you could carry me or something? My legs are still asleep."

"I'll do it." Peter staggered over to the two, but Spencer quickly stopped him.

"I got it. Don't touch her, not when you're like this anyway." She warned, but Peter still began taking slow steps forward. "Stay the hell away!"

"Just let me help you, Spencey." _Hiccup_. "Let me help."

Peter grabbed Veronica's hand, but she quickly pulled away. "Don't touch me." She cried weakly and Spencer was about to lose her mind . . . _again_.

"Let me help you, damnit!" Spencer's father dropped his beer and all of it spattered across the floor, but it didn't stop him.

The smell of alcohol spreading throughout the house, "Peter, what the heck?" Spencer growled. She grabbed her dad's torso, tackling him to the floor, but not enough to hurt him . . . yet. After getting her dad to the floor, she held up her fist and her father flinched. "Calm down." She commanded loudly, "Or I will not be afraid to hit you."

Peter's breaths slowly began to evaporate and Spencer lowered her fist. She climbed off her father, her knee soaking wet and probably filled with blood and glass. The girl's father lifted himself off the floor and looked between his wife and daughter.

The man then sighed, running his hands through his hair. He released a loud groan and headed out the back door towards the brain. Veronica told Spencer to lock all the doors.

Veronica watched her daughter clean up the mess her husband had made and she couldn't have been more proud of her daughter. She loved the woman Spencer was becoming . . . but she also hated it, but only sometimes. The woman had started noticing that her daughter now had problems controlling her anger. And honestly, she felt scared and protected all at the same time.

"Spencer . . ." She called out. Spencer dumped the glass in the trash and turned her head towards her mother, acknowledging her name being called, "You wouldn't treat me that way, would you? The way you treated your father tonight?"

The blonde washed her hands thoroughly, not wanting to pass any germs, "There is absolutely no way I would ever do that to you, Mom." Her tone serious, "I treat Peter that way because he deserves it. He shouldn't treat you this way, Mom . . . the constant drinking, the abuse."

"He's only done that three times, Spencer."

Spencer lifted her mom off the couch, into the bridal position. "Twice is too many for me. No man should ever hit a woman . . . or vice versa, actually."

The fifteen year old carried her mom into her room, making sure her mom had enough of the blanket. Then she went to bathroom to get freshened up. The girl reeked of chlorine, alcohol, and outside oxygen.

Afterwards, she crawled into the bed with her mom, wrapped her arms around her. She glanced at the clock. _4:21 AM_ "How was your first day?" Her mother asked, sleepiness filling her voice. "Tell me all about it."

"Not right now, Mom." She laughed. "You and I need some sleep."

"I love you."

 _I love you too, Mommy._

* * *

It was _11:09 AM_ when Spencer had awoken from her slumber and as soon as her eyes opened, she jumped back. Her mother's face was just inches away from hers. _Gross_. Her face scrunched into a disgusting look.

Right after she jumped back, Veronica's eyes opened slowly and when the girl's mom came to, she did the same thing Spencer did. "What the . . .?" Veronica's still sleepy voice spoke. "I love you, Spencer but not in _that_ way. That's just naaasty." The two people laughing as Veronica dragged the word 'nasty'.

"The feeling is mutual, Mom. I don't love you in that way." Spencer's thoughts flew to Emily, the senior girl she had met just yesterday and yet, she already knew so much about the brunette swimmer and vice versa. The blonde released a happy sigh as she turned her body towards the other side of the bed, facing away from her mom so she wouldn't see how red her cheeks had gotten. _She was too late._

"Speeencer." Her mother sing out, her voice still raspy from the sleepiness. "Tell me about him."

 _Him_.

"About _him_ ," she turned towards her mother, but not before making sure her cheeks had cooled down, "Um, he's not exactly a he . . . and his name is Emily."

Veronica's eyes stretched, "You like girls . . . _just_ girls?"

The fifteen year old took a deep breath and nodded, "Yes . . . and before you say anything, it is not a phase and I'm not experimenting. I've known since I was thirteen years old. I'm pretty certain I'm a five on the Kinsey scale."

The blonde's mother sat up on the bed and smiled to herself, "The fact that you mentioned the Kinsey scale makes it even more okay, Spencer." The woman watched as her daughter's eyes softened, "I love you for you honey and that's all that matters."

"Really?"

" _Really_."

Spencer sat up against the headboard with her mom and glanced at the clock, "Wow that literally only took five minutes. Most parents take like, years to understand."

"I am only a parent, Spence. I don't know how the other one might take it." The mother climbed out of bed and stretched her limbs, "Come on, let's go check on him."

Spencer sighed and shut her eyes and opened them again. "I guess." She mumbled with a subdued tone.

Veronica shot the teen a look, "He's still your father."

The fifteen year old rose from the bed and stretched. When she was done, she reached for her mother's hand who only took a second to grasp it. "Yeah." The blonde girl rolled her eyes and headed downstairs with her mother.

The two ladies reached the last step, Spencer letting go of her mother's hand and doing a High School Musical jump off the last step, her mother laughing melodically.

They headed outside towards the barn and were surprised to see Peter sitting against the barn door, his head inside the palm of his hands.

Spencer frowned, "Peter, are you okay?"

He shot up, her eyes red and slightly puffy, tired as if he hadn't gotten any sleep. Veronica stopped a few feet away from the man and held Spencer back too.

"You don't have to be afraid of me." A tear slipped down his cheek, overlapping the other tear that was already there. He looked at his wife and daughter. "I only get this way when I drink and I . . . I um, I think I have a problem."

Veronica sighed and stepped closer to her husband, kneeling down in front of him. She grabbed his hand and squeezed it softly, "I think you have a problem too, Pete and we're going to solve it together, okay? As a family."

Spencer scoffed and crossed her arms over her chest, "If you have a problem with drinking, why do you continue to do it? That's a stupid thing to do, yeah?"

"Spencer." Her mother called out. "Calm down. Don't get too riled up."

"She has every right to be mad at me, V." His eyes lowered, "I made a huge mistake and I continue to do it because . . . it . . . I can't control it."

Spencer's fists clenched and unclenched. _No, Spencer._ "Of course you can control it! Tell yourself no instead of just going for it. If you loved us, you wouldn't even have to second guess yourself."

Peter raised himself from the ground and Veronica shot Spencer a brief look. He eyes widened at the girl's body shaking. _No_. The woman had thought to herself. _Not again_.

She rushed to her daughter's side. "Spencer, no. Only listen to the sound of my voice, okay? It's me. Your mother who you love so dearly. Think about Alison . . . Aria . . . _Emily_."

At the mention of Emily's name, the shakes began to subside and Spencer's fists stopped clenching and unclenching. Spencer's sense of sight began to return and she took sight of her mother's face. She still looked somewhat tired, but the look of fear overcame that.

 _She was a hypocrite._

* * *

"Okay, I was thinking that maybe I could get my hair back to its regular color . . . how do you think I would look with red hair?"

" _You_ had red hair?"

Emily put her feet on top of the dashboard of her car, "Yeah," She shrugged, "But Caroline made me dye it to her hair color. She had me convinced that I was adopted and the only way I could be her sister was if I dyed my hair."

Spencer and Emily were sitting inside the car in front of Spencer's driveway. Emily had skipped swim practice today to check on Spencer seeing as though the girl said she was going to show up for school and didn't . . . and because Mona, Phoebe, and Sara kept asking about her every five minutes during lunch. "Do you want to get out hair dyed together?" The senior brunette asked.

Spencer tapped her chin, "Well I've been wanting to dye my hair for months now."

"Really?" Emily smiled, "What color?" The girl looked over at Spencer with an excited expression and Spencer laughed at how excited she was getting.

The blonde fiddled with the seatbelt on the passenger's seat, "Uh, brown I guess, something like yours."

"Or," Emily's feet slipped from the dashboard as she sat up, " _Or_ black with like, red streaks? Would you like that? I think you would look way cuter with your hair like that way."

The fifteen year old placed her hand to her chest, "So you don't think I'm cute already? Ouch Emily, that hurt me . . . like right there in the center of the heart."

Emily's cheeks brightened, "What? N-No. I didn't mean it that way I just—"

The swimmer's voice was cut off by the sound of Spencer laughing, "Just kidding, Emily. You don't have to get all flustered and stuff."

The twelfth grader ran her fingers through her hair and stared out the window, "You're very cute by the way. Like, out of my league cute."

The blonde's eyes widened and her cheeks immediately heated up as she stared at the senior, watching her run her fingers through her hair. She then mustered up enough air to speak, "Out of _your_ league? Wow, and here I thought you were the one out of my league." She breathed out with a hint of a smile on her face.

Emily continued to look forward, not bothering to turn her head towards the freshmen. She reached out and turned the key into the ignition enough for the radio to play. Music played softly inside the car and the two girls both breathed a sigh of relief.

"I like Fall Out Boy." Emily muttered softly as she turned up the music a little.

" _Thnks fr th mmrs_." Spencer whispered and Emily's mouth opened. Once the blonde girl nodded her head, signaling that she knew the song, "I like them too. A big fan, actually."

The senior released a squeak, "You are freaking amazing, Spencer! I thought I was the only person in my school that listened to them!"

The smile on Spencer's face widened. _Emily called me amazing_. She shut her eyes, letting the music sink in.

 _Been looking forward to the future_

 _But my eyesight is going bad_

 _And this crystal ball_

 _Is always cloudy except for_

 _When you look into the past_

 _One night stand_

Emily's head bobbed to the music as she pretended to play drums. Spencer opened her eyes and a ball of laughter escaped the girl's mouth. She grabbed Emily's wrists, "I have their whole album in my room . . . dance party?"

"Hell yeah!" Emily snatched her keys out of the ignition. The girls hopped out of the car and ran towards Spencer's front door. "Did I ever tell you that you were amazing?"

Spencer smirked to herself. "I think you might have mentioned it." She opened the door to her house and waved to her mother and father whom were sitting on the couch, cuddled up. "This is Emily. Emily, this is my darling mother and father."

"Your daughter is very cute." The senior laughed at the expressions on the girl's parent's face. The blonde grabbed Emily and pulled her upstairs.

"We're going to have a dance party, Mom." Spencer yelled. "And we're going to listen to Fall Out Boy."

The girls laughed as Spencer's parents said they were gonna be in the barn. Peter and Veronica had always disliked rock music because of all the screaming and "severe guitar playing".

Spencer opened her door to her room and ran over to her stereo where she only pressed a button and music blared through the two girls' ears. _Dance, Dance_ was now playing and Emily grabbed the blonde's hands, jumping to the beat of the music. The freshmen girl smiled to herself as she began swinging her head back and forth and dancing with Emily.

The girls danced until their feet were tired and even when that happened, the fell back onto Spencer's bed, blonde hair mixing with brown in a beautiful two toned mixture. The two just laid there, staring into each other's eyes, playing with one another's palm. The music still playing loudly.

Spencer turned on her stomach, "What's your favorite song by them?" She asked loudly enough for Emily to hear.

A look of disappointment spread across Emily's face at the loss of touch between her and the blonde. She turned on her stomach also and shrugged. "I like all of them. Do you have a favorite?"

The fifteen year old held up a finger and lifted herself off the bed and walking over to the stereo. She turned the music down just a little and turned her body. Emily was now sitting up, her back against the headboard. The senior was staring at the girl with soft eyes that made Spencer's legs almost go numb.

She walked slowly over to the older girl and sat on the bed, Emily's feet grazing the side of her leg. "I really like Carpal Tunnel of Love." She whispered softly. Spencer stared at Emily's fidgety hands, "Are you okay, Emily?"

"Not really." Emily bit her lip, staring at Spencer, "If you just met someone yesterday, is it possible to like them already?"

The blonde's heart stopped, stuttered, and began again. _Is she talking about me_? She thought to herself as her cheeks turned a color of Scarlett red.

Spencer pushed herself up on the bed so that her feet were now hanging from the bed. She cleared her throat and avoided eye contact with the brunette, "Uh maybe . . . why? Is there someone you might be crushing on?"

Emily huffed with a hint of a smile on her face. She then tugged on Spencer's shirt, signaling for the girl to sit beside her against the headboard. "I don't know," she whispered, making eye contact with the younger girl, "I don't know how you did it, but you did it, Spencer. I couldn't stop thinking about you last night before I went to bed. You almost made me late for school, you made me fall asleep in History class . . . you even made me skip swim practice today. That says a lot."

Spencer smiled a small smile, "Wow."

Emily grabbed Spencer's pinky finger and curled it with her own, "Yeah I know."

Emily uncurled her pinky finger and placed both of her hands on Spencer's sides, softly squeezing her sides. Spencer laid down fully on the bed and closed her eyes as Emily's hands traveled up and down her body. _This feels amazing_. She thought. _Literally the best day of my life_.

"One thing I like about you is . . ." the twelfth grader scooted closer to the blonde so that her body was pressed against Emily's sides. Emily's hands continued to explore Spencer's body, from her tiny arms to her tiny long legs. "Your honesty." She whispered.

Spencer bit her lip, her eyes still closed in complete bliss. "Another thing is . . ." Spencer's breath caught in her throat as she felt Emily climb on top of her. _This is fucking amazing_. "That you're very bold, Spencer."

The swim captain took both of Spencer's hands and blended them with hers so that it was creamy flesh against caramel flesh. "Open your eyes." Spencer's eyes slowly opened to see Emily hovering over her, her hair flowing back and forth and her eyes dark. "Do you want me to stop?" She whispered.

Spencer squeezed Emily's hands into hers, "I just . . . this is making feel something. . . . _down there_ and I don't know if it's a good feeling or a bad feeling." The lissome blonde watched the senior's mouth form a small smirk. "What?"

The swimmer shook her head and tightened her grip on Spencer's hands, "I don't know. It seems like a good thing, Spencer." Spencer felt Emily's breath against her neck.

The fifteen year old's breath caught in her throat as her eyes closed again. "You're amazing, Emily." She gasped out as Emily's lips pressed against her neck. "I just . . . _Moan_. I just really like your . . . _Moan._ Your eyes. They remind me of . . . _Moan_. My favorite candy."

The swim captain's lips traveled upwards towards the nape of Spencer's ear and Spencer bit her lip, struggling to release her hands from Emily's grip, "My hands, Emily." She bit her lip harder, "Can you let them go?" _Moan_. " _Pleeease_."

"Why?" The older girl raised up so that her lips were inches away from Spencer's, "I don't want you to push me off."

The blonde scoffed with a hint of a smile coming across her face. She whispered to the girl, Emily's lips getting closer and closer to hers, "I promise I won't push you off of me."

"You're sure?"

"One hundred percent sure."

Spencer smashed her lips onto Emily's and her hands flew towards the girls waist, squeezing them on instinct. She pushed against the girl's lips and the swim captain pushed back with just as much force. _Oh my god._ Spencer thought to herself. _Emily is fucking kissing me_. _I'm kissing Emily_.

Emily's knees rested on either side of Spencer's waist, her hands parallel to one another over Spencer's head. The swimmer smiled into the kiss at how easy it had been to get Spencer to break . . . and for herself to break too. The older girl had been dying to kiss the freshmen since last night and _god, was this fun._

The fifteen year old slowly trailed her hands up Emily's back, the same way she had seen in the movies. Spencer had never kissed anyone before and she didn't quite know how this worked. She pushed against Emily's lips one more time before breaking the kiss and catching her breath.

Eyes connected with eyes, smiles connected with smiles. Spencer spoke, "I . . . uh, why?" She said in between breaths.

"I should be asking you that question."

The blonde's eyes crinkled, "What do you mean?"

Emily laid next to Spencer, gasping at the cool air coming in between her legs, "You kissed me first." She teased, poking the young girl in her side. "I'm just joking, I'll go first, I guess." She took a deep breath, "I've been wanting to kiss you since last night."

 _You did more than kiss me_.

The freshmen turned on her belly, "Why?"

Emily laughed. "I told you already. You're honest, bold . . . and I like that in a person. And not to mention, when I first saw you, I thought you were really pretty."

 _Not as pretty as you, Hun_.

* * *

 **Okay this is too long! So change of plans! Two shot! And it'll be up whenever I put it up. Sooo yeah! If you feel like it, please review I would HONESTLY appreciate it! Thank you guys for being patient with me and I love you so so much! Mwah! Deuces.**


	2. Chapter 2

It was dark . . . and ten o'clock at night. Spencer and Emily were laying down in the somewhat cool grass and staring up at the stars. Spencer didn't want to leave her mom, but her mother had insisted that she go with Emily.

 _But that was at seven o'clock_.

The girl's mother was probably blowing up her phone right now, but it didn't really mean anything seeing as though Spencer had left her phone on her bed.

Emily grabbed the younger girl's hand and slipped her fingers into Spencer's. "Look," she pointed with her free hand up at the night sky, "An E and an S . . . I guess that's the universe trying to tell us something."

Spencer laughed. The stars in the sky did seem to be sending a message tonight. Like earlier, around eight thirty, she could have sworn the stars were forming a heart shape. And then at nine fifteen, the stars had spread out to form a huge bow and arrow.

And now.

Her eyes fell to the tiny pond next to the girls. While they were laying there, about three tiny fish had jumped out of the pond and then quickly dipped back in. _If a fish jumps up, Emily and I are meant to be_.

She closed her eyes and counted backwards from three. One, Two, Three.

Her eyes snapped open just in time. _Fish_. _Another fish_.

Spencer smiled happily to herself and turned back to the sky. The fifteen year old was always big on stereotypes, especially if they worked in her favor. She felt Emily nudge her, still waiting for her response.

"Yeah I see the E and the S." She turned her head towards Emily to see the girl already staring at her, "Emily and Spencer . . . or Spencer and Emily."

The senior laughed and shook her head, "Wow, so you're _that_ kind of person, huh?"

"No I'm just joking." She tilted her head closer to the older girl. "So tell me about yourself."

Emily turned her head towards Spencer, "What do you want to know?"

The younger shrugged her shoulders, "What is your dad like? You're always talking about your mom, but your dad is never brought up."

The brunette's eyes fell, "I don't have a dad," she whispered. "Well I do, but I don't consider him to be a real one."

"Why?"

Emily slid her fingers out of Spencer's and sat up, her knees pressed against her chest, "He's never around. He's a Lieutenant Colonel in the Pennsylvania National Guard."

Spencer's mouth opened and closed, "Emily, that's freaking amazing." She sat up and placed her hand on the twelfth grader's knee. "Your dad is respected by millions. Yeah, he's never around but at least you know he's trying to protect you. Anyone would be lucky to have your dad as a father to their children."

The older girl shrugged her shoulders. "You don't understand the struggles of not going to your only Father - Daughter dance with your _mother_ because your damned father couldn't make it . . . the times where my mom and Carolyn would cry themselves to sleep because they miss him so much, the family holidays he missed, my first _real_ birthday party, Carolyn's graduation, the anniversaries celebrated through fucking Skype. He only comes home like, a month out of a whole year . . . sometimes not even a month. Probably a week."

Emily's voice cracked and she bit her lip, trying to keep herself from crying, "Yeah, my father is doing a good thing for America, but . . . sometimes I just wish he would just come home . . . just take a break from that stuff to spend _real_ time with his family, you know what I mean?"

The fifteen year old pulled Emily into a side hug, which soon turned into a real hug. "I'm sorry, Emily. I didn't know—"

Police sirens blared throughout the park and the two girls broke away quickly as the sirens got closer.

"Shit," Emily whispered. She quickly stood from the grass and grabbed Spencer's wrists and pulling her up from the grass. The brunette wiped her eyes and sighed, "We have to go, Spencer. Now."

 _Rosewood PD. Move it, kids. Now! It's past park hours._

The girls ran out of the park and towards their cars. Thank God, it was dark as hell or else they would have been caught.

Emily unlocked the car doors and the girls hurriedly got in the car, Emily laughing quietly as she started the engine.

The blonde stared at the girl wide eyed and with a hint of a smile on her face, "What the hell, Emily?" Her breath heavy, "I didn't even know we had—"

The girl was silenced by the senior's lips crashing against her own, Spencer's eyes immediately shutting. Emily placed her hand on the nape of the freshmen's neck, deepening the kiss. The senior felt Spencer pulling away, but she didn't want that just yet. She pulled the girl closer to her, disabling her from breaking the kiss.

Spencer smiled in the kiss at how needy Emily was being at the moment. She placed her hand on top of Emily's squeezing it and cooperating with Emily. Soon enough, Emily finally surrendered, her forehead resting against the fifteen year old.

"You're a really good kisser," Emily whispered.

The ninth grader smiled, "I learn a lot from movies." She whispered back, causing both if the girls to break into laughter.

The swim captain pulled away and put the car into drive, pulling out of the driveway of the park. "I feel like I've known you forever." This wasn't a whisper. It was just a soft tone,almost like she was scared to say it. "Thank you for that."

The blonde smiled and grabbed Emily's free hand, observing her facial expressions and the way her eyebrows rose up and down with every word she said.

 _You're welcome._

* * *

 **E** mily finally came to a halt in front of Spencer's house where the two girls now were just sitting, neither wanting to say anything or move . . . just looked. Stared. Adored. Listened to the thoughts in their head.

 _I feel like I've known you forever._

 _You're really pretty._

 _You're amazing._

 _I just really like your eyes._

The words played throughout the blonde's thoughts over and over again. She couldn't stop smiling. How did she get so lucky? How did _she_ get so lucky? _Spencer Hastings_. Her. She got lucky . . . but _how_? _Whhhy_?

She was only a fifteen year old freshmen that had a severe amount of depression and anger issues and family problems and . . . the list could go on, but the point is. _Her_.

Emily liked _her_. Of all the people the beautiful twelfth grader had to choose from, she chose Spencer. She had admitted to liking Spencer. She hugged Spencer. She held hands with Spencer. She _kissed_ Spencer.

But Emily on the other hand couldn't believe the blonde had chosen her. Breaking the silence, the older girl had finally spoke, "Let's stay up all night together."

The slender girl's eyebrows furrowed, "You want me to sneak you into my room?" She asked with an incredulous look on her face, "Or do you want to sneak into my room Rapunzel style?"

The brunette laughed, "Actually I was just thinking about us texting until 3 AM, but me sneaking into your room would be fun . . . and also _really_ badass."

"Three?" Spencer laughed. "Is that the best you can do?" She scoffed. "Try not sleeping at all and still having to go to school." The ninth grader got out of the car and turned around to Emily with smirk on her face.

"I'll give you a signal, which means you have fifteen seconds to run into my house, lock the door, and run up into my room."

The senior nodded her head, "What's the signal?"

"My room light . . . when I turn it on, you start. Remember. Fifteen seconds. If you get caught, I'm going to pretend like this wasn't my idea." The younger girl laughed at the brunette's shocked expression.

Emily shook her head slowly, "I will try not to get caught then."

Spencer nodded her head and ran towards her house, unlocking the door and shutting it softly. She looked in the living room and saw her mother asleep on the couch. She walked over to her mom and shook her lightly.

"Mom," she whispered and her mom immediately opened her eyes. "Hi." She picked her mother up from the couch and headed towards her parents' room.

Her mother groaned, "You're going to school tomorrow, young lady . . . no matter how late you come in from hanging out with Emily."

Spencer blushed and laughed softly, "Yeah, Mom. I know, now let's get you into bed."

"I'm not sleeping with you tonight?"

"Not tonight. Where's Dad?" She laid Veronica down gently on the bed and pulled the blanket over her.

Veronica shut her eyes. "He had to work late today because of um," her voice softened. "Because so many days missed and uh," she sighed sleepily. "Goodnight, Hun."

Spencer kissed her mother on the forehead, "Goodnight Mom, I love you so much."

"You too, sweetie." She smiled a sleepy smile. "Swim practice tomorrow?"

"Maybe." The blonde nodded. "Now go to sleep, Mother."

She watched as her mother's breathing began to slow and she bent down and gave her mother another firm kiss on the forehead.

The slender fifteen year old then headed upstairs into her room, purposely forgetting to turn off the TV. She giggled to herself and flipped the switch in her room, illuminating the room. She began to count.

 _1... 2... 3..._ Slam. _4... 5..._ Click _. 6..._ Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump. _7... 8... 9_... _10_... _11..._ Knock. Knock.

Spencer opened the door with a smile on her face, "Eleven seconds." Emily fell dramatically across the bed, "Really, Emily? That wasn't even that much work."

"I did an extra job though." The senior breathed out, "You forgot to turn off the TV in the living room, you dork."

The blonde shut the door to her room and laid next to Emily on the bed, "I did that on purpose, jerk." She pulled the older girl closer to her and kissed her on the cheek, "But four seconds later, my mom probably would've caught you."

Emily nodded, "Yeah I kind of figured."

The freshmen nodded her head and climbed on top of Emily so that everything was on top of the senior, from her legs to her knees, to her . . . Spencer took in a breath. Breasts. The smaller girl folded her arms across Emily's chest. Their eyes were now gazing into one another's.

"Do you like being on top of me?"

Spencer smirked. "Kind of. Do you like being on top of me?"

"More than you'll ever know." The swim captain giggled, grabbing the girl above her by the waist. "I like being around you either way, Spencer."

The sound of the older girl's voice made Spencer's insides flutter with joy. She sounded so genuine, so _real_. And the ninth grader loved every bit of it.

She placed both of her hands on either side of the brunette's head. She didn't know what was going on with her tonight, but all she knew was that she wanted to kiss the girl below her. _She wanted to kiss the daylights out of her_. Or did she want to be touched? Or did she . . . did she want _both_?

She whispered in a raspy tone, looking straight at Emily, "I don't know what's wrong with me tonight. But whatever it is, I like it."

And before the senior could respond, Spencer was kissing her. She was kissing her hard. She was kissing her and it felt good. Both of their eyes closed at the exact same time, their urges getting the best of them.

The blonde let her hand travel down Emily's waist and she gripped the hem of the older girl's shirt tightly in her hand.

Emily, on the other hand, was trying her best not to just flip the younger girl on her back and just . . . just have her way with her. Sure, this felt great, but hearing the sound of Spencer moaning would make the twelfth grader feel even better.

She broke the kiss briefly to look at the other blonde's face. To just take in her features: her somewhat chiseled cheek bones, her perfect plump lips, her dark innocent, but not, eyes. _The little birthmark that rested on her creamy white cheek, slightly below her nose._ Let's face it.

"You're so beautiful, Spencer." Emily whispered, her comment making the blonde's cheeks turn a dark shade of pink. "I could look at you all day."

Spencer scoffed. "I don't know about that."

"Why don't you know?"

The blonde gave the brunette a look, "I might be pretty on the outside, but not on the inside."

"You seem like a pretty amazing girl to me, Spencer." Emily admitted, her eyes glistening from the light of the moon that shone through the window.

The smaller girl rolled her eyes and sat up against Emily, her legs on both sides of the girl's waist. "I was diagnosed with depression, sometimes I even go to therapy. Does that sound amazing to you?"

The senior opened her mouth to speak, but was silenced by Spencer, "Everyday I feel lonely. Everyday. Even when I'm with people. There's not a fucking day that goes by that I don't feel lonely."

Emily used all of her strength to lift herself up. Her nose touching Spencer's. She whispered, "You don't have to keep going. I understand."

"I'm tired of feeling alone, Emily."

Spencer sniffed. Her tears were screaming desperately to fall, but she didn't want to let herself cry in front of Emily. She refused to.

The swim captain nodded her head. And it was in that moment that she had never been more happy to have such an enormous crush on someone in her entire life. She liked to see people break down in front of her. It made her feel like she was important to at least someone. That they trusted her so much that they were willing to cry in front of her.

Emily ran her hands up Spencer's back, her delicate fingers slipping under the girl's shirt. "You never have to feel alone again, Spence . . . r."

The blonde laughed, her sadness slowly subsiding at the girl's slip up, "You can call me Spence if you want, Emily." She placed the palm of her hand on the brunette's soft cheek, "And I was hoping I wouldn't have to anymore. You were the one who I wanted to pull me out of that place."

"And how's that working out for you?"

The smaller girl leaned in slowly, her eyes glancing at the way Emily licked her lips slowly. " _Really_ well, Em."

 _Em_.

The twelfth grader smiled softly, "That's good." She leaned in too, her lips grazing the blonde's. "I'm glad I'm able to help you on that front." Lips met lips once again for the umpteenth time that night.

But this time, the kiss was different. It had been more passionate and there was something there that the girls couldn't quite out their finger on. It was a feeling that neither of them could name . . or at least they had thought they couldn't name.

But whatever it was, it sent electricity throughout both of their bodies. It was like it started in Spencer's body and traveled to Emily's, the little shocks of electricity flowing from body to body making Spencer's heart thump . . . and thump and thump in her chest.

The two girls pulled away, both of them gasping for that little amount of air. Emily shut her eyes and rested her forehead against the younger girl's. "I like you so much, Spencer Hastings."

"I like you too, Emily Fields." The girl whispered. "From the first moment I saw you."

The two girls kissed one more time before breaking their embraces and cuddling into one another under the covers, Spencer's left leg overlapping both of Emily's legs.

"Em?" Spencer felt herself getting drowsy, Emily hummed, "I don't think I'll be able to pull that all nighter with you."

And she didn't.

* * *

 _ **Spencer**_ _knew this place. This was Byron Montgomery's car. She recognized the lemony car freshener smell and Aria's brother, Mike's, field hockey team picture in the window shield. The girl ran her fingers over the fuzzy pieces of fabric from the seat. God, did she miss this car . . . and Aria. But what was she doing here? The blonde wasn't aware of the two people in the passenger's and front seat until voices echoed throughout her ears._

" _Come on, Byron. Seriously, we really have to hurry." Spencer's friend, Aria spoke, her voice irritated. "We're going to miss the cake and I at least have to make it there for that." The tiny girl leaned her head against the window. "I knew this trip was a bad idea."_

 _Spencer leaned her body in between the two seats in the front. "Aria?" She reached her hand out to touch her best friend's face, but her hand went straight through. Her breathing began to pick up, "Aria, can you hear me? Aria!"_

 _Byron sucked his teeth, "I'm trying my hardest, honey. This traffic is kicking my ass." He beeped his horn and yelled out the window at the car in front of him. "You drive like my dead grandmother!"_

 _The petite girl groaned, tears now slipping down her cheeks, "Spencer and Alison are going to hate me." She shook her head and stared out the window, "I cannot believe this. I have never missed my friends' birthdays, ever."_

 _Aria's father glanced over at his daughter, noticing her despondent facial expression. "Aria Marie Montgomery, don't give up hope. I promise you that we will make it to that party."_

" _When? Tomorrow?" She rolled her eyes. "Because that's what it effing feels like."_

 _Spencer laughed at the last part of the girl's sentence. Aria's parents had told her to watch her mouth when they were seven so when Spencer, Alison, and Aria were old enough to find a loop hole to those curse words, they had started sounding out the letters the curse word started with. So fuck would be eff. Shit would be ess. Ass would be . . . well, A-S-S. They didn't really find a loop hole for that so they kind of avoided saying that word around their parents._

 _Byron sighed. "I just can't win with you, can I?" Aria narrowed her eyes and turned her head towards her father, silently telling him to continue, "I take you on a little road trip and this is how you treat me . . . is it because of Meredith? Is she why you don't like me? I remember when you were little . . . you didn't even want me to leave the house, unless you went with me."_

 _Spencer's face frowned and she looked out the window shield. When Aria and Spencer were eight, they were playing hide and seek in Aria's backyard. Aria was the hider; Spencer was the seeker. Eight-year-old Spencer had just got done counting and she went searching for eight-year-old Aria, only to find the girl standing in front of her parents' window. She had a blank expression on her face and eight-year-old Spencer ran towards the smaller girl to check on her. Her mouth went wide as she saw Aria's dad on top of someone that wasn't Aria's mom . . . it was Meredith Sorenson, the two girls' Pre-Kindergarten teacher._

 _It was only about three minutes later that Byron had finally looked up and saw the two girls staring at him and Ms. Sorenson. He jumped out of the bed, nearly making Meredith fall out of the bed too. It took the man only about thirty seconds to come to the backyard and try to explain to eight-year-old Spencer and Aria that what they had seen was only a mistake and that him and Meredith were only being friendly. That was the most amateurish excuse ever._

" _Yeah," Aria spoke with another eye roll, "That was before I saw you getting freaky with my Pre-K teacher."_

 _Thoughts of how distressed Ella Montgomery, Aria's mother, had been. Especially after finding out from Aria_ four months later _. Yeah, Aria had kept it a secret for that long because her father had sworn he would never do it again. You'd think he would learn to be more careful after being caught the first time, but that wasn't the case. This time, Spencer had walked in on them on her own. Aria and the girl were supposed to be having a playdate, which they did . . . after the little girl had told Aria what had happened. Byron had begged Spencer not to tell, but Spencer just couldn't keep her mouth shut for that long . . . even though it had been only five minutes._

 _The girl loved Aria and she couldn't something like that from her friend._

 _The sound of Byron honking his horn again broke the girl from her thoughts. "Hurry the hell up."_

 _Aria shook her head, "It's no use, Byron. It's not like you yelling is going to make the traffic on this highway speed up. Spencer and Alison are going to hate me, you and Mom are going to get a divorce . . . I might as well die right now." She leaned her head against the warm window, her eyes shutting and her mind trying to block out all sounds. It's like Spencer could hear her best friend's thoughts._

 _Might as well die, you're a fuck up anyway._

 _You couldn't even make it to your best friend's birthday party, you idiot._

 _And what kind of child are you? Keeping that secret away from your own mother. That's shitty, Ar. Real shitty._

 _I thought you loved your mother._

 _Mike already hates you and your father._

 _Just die, stupid._

 _Spencer tried to place her hand on the girl's shoulder, but once again, her hand flew straight through, a cool breeze flying throughout her body as her hand went through her friend's shoulders. "Ar, no. Don't think like that." She whispered to the girl, "It's fine, my party isn't that important. Your mother still loves you, I promise." Her voice broke as she wanted to cry at Aria's facial expression._

Thirty seconds, Spence. _A voice spoke from the back of Spencer's mind._ Thirty more seconds and your beloved Aria will be dead, and it will be all your fault. _The blonde's breath caught in her throat. It couldn't be . . . right? She couldn't be dreaming of the car accident, right? Not when she doesn't even know what happened. The girl shut her eyes tightly, trying to wake herself up. She even tried that line from that one movie:_ There's no place like home, there's no place like home. _She tapped her bare feet together quickly, trying to wake herself up._

15 . . . 14 . . . 13 . . . 12 . . . 11 . . . 10 . . . 09 . . . 08 . . .

" _No please!" She pleaded, "Please someone wake me up." The girl cried out as loudly as she could, but as much as she tried, nothing happened. Nothing happened and Spencer swore that she had begun spinning, her head, everything. "Stop! Please, I don't want to see anymore."_

05 . . . 04 . . . 03 . . . 02 . . . 01 . . . _CRASH! FLIP! FLIP! FLIP! THUD!_

 _The blonde wasn't dizzy anymore. She wasn't hurt . . . she wasn't even in the car anymore. The scene had changed. The air suddenly smelled wet and dewey, slightly burning. Her vision was slowly returning and all she could make out of the incoming light was a flipped over car, other cars continuing to slowly pass by._

 _Byron climbed out of the car and crawled hurriedly over to the passenger's side. Tears fell down Spencer's cheek as Byron screamed for help. He kicked the window open with his feet and pulled his daughter out of there. The blonde shut her eyes tightly and reopened them. Byron was now glaring at her, his eyes shooting bullet holes into Spencer's._

 _Aria laid in the man's lap lifelessly, her head gushing with blood. "You killed her!" Byron screamed at the girl and Spencer's heart dropped, "You killed my daughter. She is dead because of you!"_

 _The fifteen year old shook her head, "No." She put her hands over her ears to block out the sounds of Aria's dad screaming at her. "No! I didn't kill her! Stop it! Please!"_

You killed her. You killed her. You killed her. You killed her. You killed her. You killed her. You killed her.

She's dead now, Spencer. And you killed her. Emily better watch her back because her crush likes to kill people.

" _Stooooop!" The girl fell to her knees, her eyes locked on her best friend, "Aria, I'm sorry. So sorry, please forgive me, Ar . . . please? Please!"_

I thought we were friends, Spencer. But you killed me. What friend does that?

 _Spencer. Spencer! Spencer wake up!_

"Wake up!" Emily's concerned face came into view, "Are you okay, Spence?" She whispered, "You were having a nightmare, weren't you?" The younger girl nodded and Emily pulled her girl into her body, cutting off her circulation but she didn't care. Not in the slightest. She watched as tiny beads of sweat rolled down Spencer's forehead. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Spencer curled into the swimmer, her face still in shock at the nightmare she had just had. She could hardly breath because the dream had taken up all of her energy. She spoke in tiny breaths, "I'm, uh." Breath. "I'm sorry for." Breath. "For falling asleep." Breath. "On you."

The brunette smiled softly to the girl and gave her a soft peck on the cheek, "It's okay, Hun. I understand that you were tired . . . do you want to talk about your nightmare?" Spencer shook her head, "Okay then, what do you want to talk about then? You know, to get your mind off of it?"

Spencer wrapped her arm around Emily's torso, one of her legs crossing the older girl's. "I just want to lay here, with you. When I'm with you, I feel relaxed." The blonde girl whispered, her fingers delicately slipping under Emily's shirt, causing Emily's muscles to quiver.

"Officially the best day ever, Spencer." Emily spoke in a light tone, using her index finger to lift Spencer's chin, connecting their eyes together. "Best. Day. Ever." Kissing Spencer's lips with each word.

The ninth grader laughed, "I like how you think you can just steal kisses from me, ma'am." Emily's eyebrows raised slightly causing Spencer to let out another laugh, "You have to earn them."

"Oh so I haven't already?"

The young girl shook her head teasingly, eyes still connected with each other's. "You make me forget about all of my problems, Emily." She rested her forehead against the swim captain's. "I like you, a lot." She observed the smile on Emily's face. It was a sleepy one, kind of lazy. Her eyes were half lidded. "Before you go to sleep, you have to say it back. I want to hear you say it back, Emily."

The brunette smiled and leaned in to place a kiss on the freshmen's lips, "I like you too." She spoke softly, the sleepiness taking over her body. Her eyes shut slowly, "Maybe by the end of the year 2008, I would end up loving you."

Spencer's heart stopped. _I sure hope so, Emily Fields._

* * *

 _ **Beep. Beep. Beep. Spencer's**_ alarm clock chirped throughout the room. The slender girl groaned as she turned over on her side, about to turn it off, but her body was quickly halted by something that made her face light up. She ran her fingers down the girl's arm, her eyes still closed.

The brunette next to her stirred. "Spence." Emily stated with fear in her voice. The freshmen's eyebrows furrowed and she opened her eyes slowly, her face inches away from the older girl's.

"What?"

Emily's eyes slowly rose up. Spencer sat up and followed her gaze, only to be startled by the figure that was standing above them. _Peter_.

"Uh hey Dad." The freshmen greeted.

"Morning." Peter's eyebrows furrowed, "What is Emily doing here so early? _In bed_ with you?"

Emily's head hung as she spoke, "I stayed the night." She murmured loud enough for him to hear. "I'm sorry, Msr. Hastings."

"Why are you apologizing?" Spencer asked.

Before the senior could answer, she heard footsteps coming toward her room, "Spencer, I told you to not sleep through your—" they appeared in the doorway, "Uh-oh." _Ahem_. "Morning."

Peter looked at Veronica, "Did you know that our daughter let someone sleep over?" Her asked, curiosity seeping through his voice, "When I walked in, they were holding one another. Is there something that I should know, Spence?"

The ninth grader cleared her throat, her back now placed firmly against her headboard. Spencer grabbed the older girl's hand, slipping her fingers into the other girl's. She gave Emily a sympathetic look and glanced over at her mom. "I'm gay, Dad . . . she—" she looked into Emily's eyes. "— is someone I really like."

Veronice hummed and placed her hand on the younger girl's dad's shoulder. "When she told me, guessed what she used? The Kinsey Scale and I was so impressed."

Peter shrugged his shoulders and looked over to Emily, "Do you reciprocate the feelings that my daughter has for you?" He watched as the brunette nodded. "As long as you don't hurt her, I'm fine with that."

The swim captain raised her eyebrows, "That's it?" The two parents shrugged their shoulders and nodded with smiles on their faces. "Wow, Spence. I love your parents." She squeezed the ninth grader's hand.

 _I love my parents too_.

* * *

 **The** two girls were now sitting inside Emily's car eating a breakfast burrito from McDonald's. After Emily had to go home, take a shower (thank god her mom and Carolyn had already left.), and do other things, they had no time to eat breakfast. It was the freshmen's decision to stop at the restaurant since it was the closest to the school. Emily wanted Starbucks . . . but it was on the other side of town.

The brunette started her car, "Ugh this is disgusting."

"And yet you're still eating it, Em." Spencer giggled, taking a bite out of her burrito. "If it is disgusting, why are you still eating it then?"

"Because I need the most important meal of the day, dork." She smiled and pulled out of the restaurant's parking lot. "Hand me the orange juice."

"I thought it was mine."

The senior scoffed, "Hell no. We are sharing that." She glanced over at Spencer.

Spencer laughed softly, taking the orange juice out of the cup holder and taking a sip out of it, "Why didn't you get your own?"

"I paid for that so technically, it is mine. Now give it to me, geek."

"Geek?" The blonde's eyebrows rose, "That's a new one. Got anymore?"

The twelfth grader shook her head amusingly, "Maybe but I won't share if you don't give me a sip of your orange juice."

"Just pull off so we won't be late."

Ten minutes and a sip of orange juice later, the two girls pulled into the Rosewood High School parking lot; Spencer with a playful pout on her face and Emily with a triumphant smile. Somehow, the senior had convinced the girl to give her the cup of orange juice and even though it was almost gone, she still drunk the last of it.

The classical music played throughout the school. Emily groaned. "That's our classroom cue."

* * *

 **And I really enjoy writing this haha. I want to finish this until Emily graduates so, it's probably going to be like two more chapters after this. Next chapter is going to be Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas and New Years all into one! I'm hoping you guys are enjoying this short story. For me, it's hitting so close to home because like Spencer, I lost someone that was important to me and was also having problems afterwards. And yes, there was a person who pulled me out of that state and til this day, I still thank her so much. So yeah, I love you guys and I hope you're enjoying! Mwah, mwah! Deuces!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys! Just a warning: I DID NOT EDIT ANY OF THIS BEFORE I POSTED SOOO BEAR WITH ME PLEASE LOL. But anyway, enjoy! I really hope y'all do!**

* * *

On the third day of school, Spencer had expected students and teachers still trying to get to know each other. Just like in middle school. Now she had understood what Charlotte had meant when she said that high school 'was no joke'. She walked into English class and found out that she had an assigned seat. Second row, third seat. In the middle of a boy named Toby Cavanaugh and sister.

Jenna Cavanaugh was her name. She had brown hair, green eyes, and a sweet smile. A freshmen, obviously. Spencer had to admit, she was kind of cute.

The blonde watched as Jenna trudged through her backpack for something. It took the girl about twenty seconds to find what she was actually looking for: a book named _Of Mice and Men_.

"Stop doing that." the girl whispered, catching a look at Spencer before opening her book and flipping for the page she was on. Spencer watched as the girl's bookmark hit the desk.

Her eyes fell onto Jenna's eyes and gave her an innocent smile. "Doing what?"

The brunette laughed softly and shook her head, "Why were you staring at me?"

"I wasn't."

"But I saw you."

"Well you saw wrong."

"No."

"Yeah."

The two girls broke into small laughs. Jenna shook her head once more, "I know I'm not crazy. You were staring at me." Spencer shook her head. Jenna narrowed her eyes at the blonde, "Aren't you on the swim team?"

The blonde rested her elbows on her desk and smiled softly, "Yep. Today is my first real practice, why?"

Jenna's eyes widened. " _You're_ the freshmen who lashed out on Paige." She whispered in realization and closed her book. "Oh my gosh!"

"Jenna, do you maybe want to share what's so surprise worthy over there? You and Spencer?" Ms. Fields called out with a very irritated look on her face.

Spencer spoke quickly before Jenna could,"It was my fault Ca— I mean, Ms. Fields." She looked on as Carolyn's eyes widened. "I'm sorry." The blonde shot the teacher an apologetic look.

The teacher nodded stifly, "Okay now class, raise your hand if you hadn't gotten a copy of the book we are about to read today." She held up the same book that Jenna had pulled out of her backpack. Spencer raised her hand.

Ms. Fields walked over to Spencer's row and told a boy to pass it back. After about five seconds, the blonde had finally received the book.

She felt a tap on her shoulder and turned towards Jenna. The brunette mouthed a 'thank you' to Spencer and the girl nodded with a smile on her face. "Hey," she whispered and made sure Carolyn wasn't looking. "Do you want to have lunch with my friends and I today? I'm sure they'll be happy to have you."

Jenna nodded excitedly. "But as long as my brother can come also. He has a hard time making friends right now."

"Why?"

The brunette's face fell as she looked over to how her brother was asleep at his desk. She leaned over to Spencer. "He lost his best friend about a month ago. They were so close. Like inseparable, then all of a sudden. Poof. He's gone and poor Toby's a wreck. He hasn't eaten in three days."

Spencer's heart stopped. "Has he . . . does he have any nightmares?"

"All the time." She passed Spencer a bookmark, "I have to sleep with him at night to make sure he doesn't have any anxiety attacks."

Spencer faced forward. Toby and her were going through the same problems. They both had lost someone very important to them. Of course he could sit with her and Emily.

Maybe he was feeling guilty too. Or maybe he was seeing a shrink every Monday too. _Maybe his hair wasn't even that color_.

She glanced over at Toby with a soft frown on her face. She wanted to help him. She really did.

"Spencer, maybe you could start us off." Carolyn called out, "Read pages one, two, and three for me."

The blonde rolled her eyes playfully at the teacher, "Why are you just picking on me today?" She bit her lip to keep from laughing and Ms. Fields shook her head with a smile on her face.

"Just read, Spencer."

Spencer glanced at Jenna with a smile on her face and the brunette shrugged her shoulders. Jenna leaned over to the person next to her and whispered something to them with a smile.

The blonde then redirected her attention back to the book and began reading.

 _ **Lunch**_.

"Your sister was being a total bee word today." Spencer picked a seat beside Emily and dropped her lunch tray. "Did you get to talk to her?"

Emily sighed and used her fork to poke holes in her salad. "Unfortunately. Yes."

"And how did that work out for you?"

The senior laughed softly and looked up at Spencer then back at her salad. "It was rough. She told me next time I decided to spend the night at your house, let her or my mom know. Then she started about how I was going to get you into trouble or something like that . . . you have your own mind, don't you? I can't tell you what to do."

The freshmen grabbed the older girl's face with both hands and turned her head towards her, their eyes absorbing one another's. "I want to do this. You're not making me to do anything."

"Are we interrupting something?"

Spencer and Emily looked to see Mona, Phoebe, and Sara standing near their table. The freshmen pulled away from her crush with a smile, her cheeks fiery. "Hey ladies." she whispered. "Emily told me that you guys were looking for me yesterday?"

The three girls nodded and joined the other two girls at the table. _Only two seats left. Where are they?_ Spencer thought to herself.

"We wanted to sit with you." Phoebe smiled excitedly. "We think you guys are super cool."

Emily scoffed. "Since when? Last year, you didn't even want to be in the same classroom with me when I came out." The girl muttered to Mona and her clan.

Mona waved her hand towards Emily and let out a small, nervous laugh. "That was so long ago, Emmy."

"It doesn't matter, Mona." Spencer commented, her lips pursing together. She looked over to Sara and Phoebe. "Were these two apart of the shun crew last year too Emily?"

Sara and Phoebe shook their heads viciously, "We didn't even know Mona last year in that way." Phoebe pushed her glasses up on her face. "We just took classes with her."

The swim captain shrugged. "They were like the nerdy ones last year. I'm even surprised they were at McCullers' party."

Sara nodded and Spencer chuckled. "Uh, well. This is now a table for the outcast . . . goodbye Mona."

The small girl's mouth went ajar, "Wh- What? I said I was sorry."

The swim captain grabbed the freshmen's hand under the table and squeezed it gently, "But you're not an outcast." Emily said, using her other hand to wave at the girl.

Mona stood up and grabbed her lunch tray. She shook her head slowly at the freshmen. Spencer shrugged.

"Bye Mona." Sara whispered, avoiding eye contact. "See you on the grass."

Mona stomped away. And as she was stomping away, Jenna and Toby were shyly approaching. Spencer smiled lightly, letting go of Emily's hand and standing up to greet the girl and boy.

"You made it." Emily's eyebrows furrowed just a little. She watched as Spencer extended her arms to the brunette and giving her a tight hug. "Hey Toby." Spencer said slowly.

Toby averted his blue eyes towards the ground. "Hey." He mumbled.

The lanky blonde redirected her attention back to the three girls at the table, "Guys this is Jenna and her brother, Toby. They will also be joining us from now on."

"Wow Spence," Emily smiled weakly. "You're just filling our table, huh?"

The girl shrugged. "I mean, Jenna's a cool girl and her brother . . . I would like to get to know him a little better." She smiled at the boy as his eyes rose just a little to meet Spencer's eyes. "Have a seat."

Jenna took a seat in the middle of Sara and Emily. Toby took a seat between Spencer and Phoebe.

The swim captain leaned into her crush, "I'm gonna go."

Before the lissome blonde could respond, her crush was already getting up and heading straight for the cafeteria door. Spencer crinkled her eyebrows at the girl's strange behavior. She had wondered what was wrong with her.

"Hold on," she mumbled to Jenna and the others while getting out of her seat. "You four get know each other and I'll come back and we will all share something about each other, okay?" She looked at the confused faces, but watched as they all, including Toby, nodded their heads.

She turned and began running after the swim captain, her thick blonde hair cascading down the front of her face sometimes. Once she had made it outside, she caught sight of Emily sitting by herself at a table.

The freshmen walked slowly over to her crush, her breathing slowing. Her hand landed on the older girl's shoulder. Emily didn't even flinch or turn around to see whom it was that tapped her.

"Are you okay?" Spencer asked. She took a seat so that she was now face to face with Emily. "Did I do something wrong?" she whispered so others wouldn't here.

The brunette raised her head so that her eye's connected with the younger girl's. She sighed. "I just . . . I don't want anyone to steal you away from me. Like, you're already making friends and me . . . I don't have any. I just want you."

Spencer's breath caught in her throat at her crush's comment. _She wants me_. The blonde thought to herself. _Me_. Her heart pumped inside of her chest, the butterflies swarmed in the center of her belly. Let's face it: Spencer was about to puke happiness.

 _Emily wanted her_.

"Before I get too happy, does that have a double meaning?" Spencer's question made the twelfth grader burst into laughter.

Instead of answering the question, Emily snaked her hand behind Spencer's neck and pulled her into a quick kiss.

The younger girl smiled. "So . . .?

"Yes, it does." _Kiss_. "Have a double meaning." Emily eyed the girl. "Are you excited?"

" _Very_."

The brunette rolled her eyes and grabbed her crush's hand, "Come on. Let's see what Phoebe and the others are doing."

Spencer and Jenna were sitting in Jenna's living room reading the rest of _Of Mice and Men_ together. The teacher had told them to not go beyond the third section but those two couldn't help themselves.

After her swim practice, Spencer had told her crush to drop her off at Jenna's house. When she got done convincing Emily that she was the only girl she had her eyes on right now, the swim captain had finally given up and dropped the girl off in front of Jenna's house.

Emily had told Spencer to call her when they were done doing whatever they were doing so she could pick her up.

"OhmygoshSpencerdidyoureachpageonehundredyet!" Jenna screamed excitedly. "Shit is about to get real, Spencer. It's about to get real."

The blonde laughed at the girl's reaction and closed her book. "I'm actually done," she placed her hands on the brunette's shoulders. "Calm down. Just keep reading . . . like right now."

Jenna took a breath and looked down at the book again. "Watch TV while I finish. I don't want you giving anything away."

"Can I go talk to Toby?"

The brunette girl scoffed, her eyes still roaming over the words of the book, "You can try, I guess. His room is upstairs by the bathroom, which is on the left side."

Spencer nodded her head and stood up from the couch. She walked slowly up the stairs, immediately sighting a room where the door was halfway open. The girl had assumed it was Toby's and quietly made her way towards the room.

Spencer knocked gently on the door, the door swinging open slowly. Toby's figure came into view, his head perking up towards the door. She smiled at the boy as she saw he was reading _Of Mice and Men_ also.

"You're trying to get ahead too, huh?" she spoke, her voice quivering out of nervousness. "It has a really bad ending."

Toby narrowed his eyes at the blonde, "I actually thought the ending was great." he closed the book and sat it at the edge of his bed. "This is my fifth time reading it."

Spencer nodded her head slowly, "Cool . . . why do you think the ending was great?"

"At first I didn't think it was a good ending, but reading it again now, I see that not everyone deserved a happy ending. George thought Lennie died happily when in reality, Lennie is just mad at him for killing him . . . he's furious. This book totally described a great friendship from beginning to end."

The blonde was surprised by the boy's sudden urge to describe the meaning of the book. She gave him a tight lipped smile.

"Ohmygosh!" a voice shouted from downstairs. "Spencer!"

Spencer tossed Toby an apologetic look and turned towards the sound. "And the scream calls."

Toby hummed and nodded his head. "She has reached the ending of _Of Mice and Men_. I know my sister . . . be prepared for Niagara Falls when you go downstairs."

The blonde laughed softly and nodded her head, "Are you coming downstairs anytime soon? I mean, I don't know about Jenna, but I would like to hang out with you more."

"Is that why you invited me to sit with you and all those other girls at lunch?" Spencer nodded and Toby unfolded his hands and used them to grip the end of his bed. "Well no thank you. I'd rather not make friends with my sister's friends."

The girl smiled at the boy. "And why is that? Do you think something is wrong with being friends with your sister's friends?"

The boy looked at the girl. "Yes. Yes I do. Don't you think so?"

"Not at all." Spencer chuckled and glanced around the boy's room. "Eminem?" she asked, her eyes examining the huge Eminem poster that was blocking the only window in the room. "I like Eminem."

Toby glanced at the poster and back at the blonde, "My parents think he's rude."

"He is." Spencer crossed her arms over her chest. "That's what makes him awesome. He doesn't give an ess about anything."

"Ess?" the boy let out a small laughter and stood up from the bed. "Really?"

The freshman smacked her teeth, "It's a loophole that my friend and I came up with when we were little. I actually thought it was pretty clever for a bunch of six year olds."

"Why not just say shit?"

"Shit." the girl smiled. "There I said it."

"How could George do that to Lennie?" Jenna screamed from downstairs. "He was innocent I tell you, innocent!" _Pause_. "Get down here right now, Spencer. This is some baloney."

Spencer and Toby shared little puddles of laughter. "Okay, I'm gonna go now." she spoke softly. She bit her lip nervously, "I'll see you . . ."

Toby nodded his head and finished her sentence. "Tomorrow in English. No more lunch sits."

"Why not?" Spencer asked, but no answer. "Okay, how about we play rock-paper-scissors? If I win, you have to sit at our table during lunch and if you win, you can sit anywhere you want."

Toby narrowed his eyes with a smile on his face. "Deal." he walked towards the blonde and shook her hand. "No cheating, Spencer."

 _Rock, Paper, Scissors, Shoot!_

"Yes!"

"Dang it."

Spencer threw her hands up in triumph as she backed out of the boy's room. Toby shook his head shamefully, but had a huge grin on his face, almost like he wanted to laugh.

The blonde flipped her hair to one side. "See you tomorrow, Toby." And without giving the boy a second glance, she turned on her heel and headed downstairs with a proud smile on her face.

Jenna was already glaring at her with her lips puckered in a pout. Her eyes were watery as she still had the book open to the second to last page. "What the hell was this ending though?" Spencer laughed and sat next to the girl. She then pulled her into a tight side hug.

"It's okay, Hun." she bit her lip to keep from laughing. "If it makes you feel any better, I didn't think the ending was too great either."

Jenna shook her head. "Nope."

"It didn't work?"

"No, Spencer. It didn't."

Both girls started laughing, but it was quickly interrupted as Spencer's phone started ringing. Or buzzing. She pulled her phone from her back pocket and read the caller ID. _Em_.

She quickly broke the hug with Jenna and pressed the answer button. "Hey Emily. What's up?"

 _"Why didn't you text me?"_

"You told me to call you when I was ready."

 _"And you aren't?"_

"Not yet, no." Spencer held her finger up, gesturing for Jenna to give her a minute. The blonde quickly ran into the downstairs bathroom. "Is everything okay, Emily?"

She heard a sigh coming from the other end of the line. "Emily, what did I do?"

 _"Nothing Spence, you didn't do anything. I'm just . . . I don't know. I'm sorry."_

"Do you need me?"

 _"Yeah. I do."_

"Okay then, yeah. You can come get me right now." Spencer ran her fingers through her hair. "Are you okay?"

 _"Yeah I'm fine . . . are you sure you want me to come get you right now? I mean, I can wait."_

"No. No it's fine. You can come now."

 _"Okay . . . Spencer?"_

"Hm?"

 _"I like you. Like a lot."_

The blonde heart thumped in her chest and the butterflies swarmed in her stomach again. "I like you too, Em."

 _"A lot?"_

"A lot." the blonde smiled. Hearing Emily's voice soothing down made her heart skip a beat. "A lot, a lot. You have no idea."

Emily released a dreamy sigh, " _I'll be by soon okay? Remember: full practice tomorrow. Not half_."

"Aye aye captain."

" _Bye Spencer_."

"See you soon Emily."

When she heard the other end of the phone go blank, the freshmen sighed happily to herself and blacked out her phone. She then opened the door to the bathroom and walked back into the living room with Jenna, plopping down next to the brunette.

Jenna gave her a comical look, "What are you smiling about?"

Spencer looked at Jenna and sighed once more. She picked up her book and shrugged her shoulders. "Emily is coming to pick me up in a little bit."

"That it?" Spencer nodded and Jenna broke into a small laugh. "Wow Spencer, how long have you two known each other?"

The blonde pursed her lips, "Three days, maybe. Why?"

The brunette faced her friend, "You like her already?"

A huge smile broke out on Spencer's face, "She's a really cool girl . . . and she's pretty, athletic, sensitive . . . she's perfect."

"Nobody's perfect." Jenna said in a melodic tone.

"No please no." The lissome blonde laughed joyfully as she pushed her friend's shoulder lightly. "That was unexpected."

The brunette propped her feet across Spencer's lap and rested her head on the arm rest. "Well you don't fully know me yet . . . how do you know what's expected and unexpected?"

"Because you don't seem like the type of person to watch Hannah Montana, or even Disney Channel for that matter." Spencer crossed her arms over her chest.

Jenna rolled her eyes. "I don't . . . Toby does. He sleeps with his TV blasted on that channel every single effing night. I could hear it all the way from my room."

"It's not like it's _that_ far. The distances from you and Toby's room, I mean." Spencer teased, glancing at Jenna to gauge her reaction.

The girl watched as her friend rolled her eyes. "Either way, he's too old to be watching Disney Channel."

"You're never too old for Disney Channel."

"Stop defending him, Spencer!" Jenna laughed. "You're supposed to be agreeing with me."

Spencer let out a small giggle. "And why should I be on your side exactly?"

"Because you're _my_ friend." the brunette teased with a smile on her face. "Not his."

"Why can't I be both you of you guys' friend?"

Jenna tossed the blonde a look. "Why do you keep asking me questions like that?"

Spencer shrugged her shoulders, "I'm just trying to figure out your brain process, that's all. It is so . . . I don't know, eighties."

Spencer took the time to observe the brunette; from her green eyes to her curly brown hair, and all over her creamy white flesh. The girl's face was very clear, almost as clear as water. No blemishes. Well, unless it was hidden by make-up.

"How so?"

The blonde hunched her shoulders and puffed her cheeks before speaking. "Uh, I don't know. It's that statement you just said. 'you're my friend, not his.'. You're saying that like we can't all be friends . . . like he has some kind of disease or something."

Before Jenna could respond to the Spencer's sentence, there was a soft knock at the door. The brunette hopped onto her feet and walked quickly towards the door.

There was another knock at the door. Jenna swung the door open and a huge smile appeared on her face. "Spencer, your jock girlfriend is here."

Both Emily and Spencer's cheeks reddened with embarrassment. "Jenna, she's not my girlfriend." she stood from her seat and walked towards the kitchen, grabbing her backpack off the counter and stuffing her book into her backpack. Spencer joined the two girls at the door, avoiding eye contact with Emily.

 _As much as she wanted her to be._

Emily's face fell slowly as she crinkled her eyebrows at the freshmen, but decided not to say anything.

"But I saw you two kissing earlier today . . . in the natatorium _and_ during lunch." Jenna reminded Spencer with a teasing smile. "Unless that was just for show."

Spencer shrugged her shoulders. "I mean, we like each other. But that's it for right now." she mumbled under her breath, but loud enough for Jenna could hear and kept her eyes glued to the floor.

"Emily's face says otherwise." Jenna said slowly. "I'll see you two tomorrow at school." she pushed Spencer into Emily so that both girls were out of her house. "Bye ladies."

Spencer slugged her bag on her shoulder and looked shyly at Emily to see obvious hurt in the girl's eyes. She decided not to speak on behalf of that and just changed the subject. "Come on." she whispered, nodding her head towards the car.

The senior obeyed the girl and walked quickly to her car, leaving Spencer behind. Emily opened the passenger's side for the blonde and walked to her side, hopping in and buckling her seatbelt.

"What did I say?" Spencer tried to sound innocent, but her voice wasn't cooperating. She slid into the car and released a loud sigh when the brunette didn't respond quickly enough. "Don't just ignore my question. I know I said something wrong."

Emily connected her eyes with the girl. "Is that really it for right now, Spence? We just really like each other and kiss . . . and that's it?"

Spencer shut her eyes. "That's not what I meant, okay?" she rested her head against the headrest. The slender blonde opened her eyes and turned her head towards the older girl. "I was just embarrassed. Didn't you see how red my cheeks were?"

"Misused words make wars and heartache, Spence."

"Exactly," Spencer spoke. "I'm such an idiot, aren't I? I'm sorry."

The senior finally turned her head towards Spencer. She reached one of her hands out to cup the girl's cheek, "You're not an idiot." she whispered with a small smile on her face, her eyes connecting with Spencer's. "You're so _so_ beautiful."

The girls cheeks reddened once more for the second time today as she continued to look into her crush's eyes. Her heart fluttering inside her chest. She reached across the arm rest and placed a soft kiss on Emily's lips.

Emily snaked the hand that was resting on Spencer's cheek behind her neck to press harder into the kiss. She enjoyed the feeling of Spencer's lips on hers and Spencer enjoyed the feeling of Emily's lips on hers.

The two girls deepened the kiss, Spencer biting down softly on Emily's bottom lip(just like she had learned in the movies she used to watch with Aria.). This maneuver made the older girl gasp in surprise, her mouth widening.

And the freshmen slid her tongue across Emily's smooth, silky tongue, both girls letting out the pleasurable sounds that were created from the unspeakable amount of pleasure they were receiving from one another.

Emily then used her other hand to pull Spencer into the seat with her, Spencer now straddling her waist. With their lips still entwined, the blonde tangled her fingers into her crush's giving it a rough tug.

"I'm so lucky," the freshmen broke the kiss and whispered, looking into the twelfth grader's eyes. Her fingers massaging Emily's scalp. "Let's go somewhere . . . anywhere but my house."

Emily closed her eyes, the pleasurable ache shooting throughout her core as Spencer continued to massage her scalp. "You have no idea what you're doing to me right now, Spencer Hastings."

The younger girl smirked, continuing to look down at her crush's facial expression. "What am I doing to you?"

Emily placed her hands on Spencer's waist, her fingers slipping under the girl's shirt. This sudden action caused Spencer to gasp at the touch. The swim captain opened her eyes and whispered to the blonde straddling her lap, "You're making me feel things that make me want to just throw you in the backseat of my car and just . . . just-"

"Just what?" Spencer bit her lip. She knew what Emily wanted to say but she wanted to hear her say those words herself. She had seen in movies where car make out sessions led to . . . and if she was being completely honest with herself, even if it was only after three days of knowing this girl, she wanted it too. _Really bad_. "Just what, Emily?"

Emily's grip on Spencer's waists tightened and Spencer placed her hands on top of Emily's. She leaned into the girl, their lips grazing one another's. "Don't be afraid."

The older girl took a deep breath, "You're so beautiful. _So fucking_ beautiful . . . and the way you're making me feel right now . . . I just." _In. Out._ "I want to have my way with you."

A huge smile appeared on Spencer's lips before she smashed her lips onto Emily's. She didn't know what Emily was doing to her and how she was doing, but she knew that she wanted it. She wanted it so bad that she ended up pushing herself into the twelfth grader.

A moan echoed throughout the car from Emily's mouth as she broke the kiss and squeezed Spencer's waists once more. She gave the blonde a smile and whispered, "Let's go somewhere other than here."

 **11.19.2008 ; Happy Birthday, Emily Fields**

 _. . . . and I think I might love you._

 _Your freshmen girlfriend,_

 _SJH._

Sighing to herself and reading the letter over that she had written for her girlfriend, Spencer shut her eyes. Today was the moment of truth.

She had known the girl for almost three months now and it was time. After spending her whole Halloween with the girl, she had realized that . . . she . . .

"You ready?" Veronica spoke softly while she leaned against the door frame of her daughter's door. "You do realize you're going to be late for school right? Like . . ." she pulled her sleeve up revealing her Rolex. She squinted at her wrist. "A lot late."

The blonde shrugged her shoulders. "It's totally worth it, mom." she played with the letter in her hand, "I think . . . I think I love her. I wrote her a letter telling her happy birthday and . . . and other things."

Veronica lifted herself off the door frame and her smile grew on her face. "It's okay, Honey. Just breathe, she will love it."

The girl turned towards the clock next to her bed. She drew in a nervous breath and nodded to herself. It was time.

"I'm ready." she grabbed her guitar and tossed her mother a big smile before shooting past her and heading downstairs. Her father was in the kitchen preparing himself a cup of coffee. Spencer walked over to him and lightly slapped a hand on his back. "Do you have them?"

"I would appreciate it if you would start calling me 'Dad' again, Spencer." he tossed his daughter a playful glare and turned so that his back was pressed against the stained glass of the counter. He bent down on his knee and opened the microwave that was under the counter and pulled out a scrapbook: _Thnks Fr Th Mmrs_

Spencer and Veronica laughed at the man's hiding spot. She took the scrapbook from her father and watched him get up. Peter smiled at his two favorite women in the world and gave Spencer a shoulder squeeze.

"Have fun, champ."

"I will."

She then turned on her heel and headed towards the door. "Let's go, Mom." she yelled from outside. "We have to go before she leaves for school." Spencer stuffed her guitar in the backseat of her mother's car.

After a few seconds, Veronica stepped into the car with a smile on her face. She glanced at her daughter then handed her something that she was sure she was going to need.

The fifteen year old's eyes widened in excitement. "Oh yeah! My polaroid. Thanks Mom." she kissed her mother on the cheek and took the Fujifilm camera out of the woman's hand.

Her mother shrugged. "I just thought that you had wanted to add to the scrapbook."

Spencer nodded her head. "I do. I mean, it's already halfway full from Halloween. Just imagine how it'll look after today, Thanksgiving, and Christmas."

The car's engine roared. "Exactly." Veronica stated, her eyebrows raising as she put the car in reverse and pulled out of her driveway. "Spencer."

"Yeah Mom?" she responded happily.

The blonde's mother smiled at her happy tone, her eyes focusing on the road. "You said earlier that you think you might love Emily. Why do you think that?"

 _ **10.31.2008**_ _(Flashback)_

 _"Okay so, what house is next?" Emily asked excitedly to Jenna, one hand holding her pumpkin bucket that was full of candy and the other hand busying itself with Spencer's._

 _Jenna Cavanaugh shrugged her shoulders and turned to Toby Cavanaugh who was wearing his same super man costume that he had had for almost three years now, "Got anymore houses you wanna go to?"_

 _The boy's cap blew with the wind, "I think I have enough candy that will last me for a lifetime . . . I guess we can go home."_

 _The four kids watched as the leaves skidded across the ground, piling into one big bundle. Fall was always a beautiful season . . . when it wasn't raining. The weather was great on Halloween though. The wind coming and going, but blowing at just the right time. And at a rhythm that Spencer had figured out._

 _It took them approximately one minute to knock on the door, say trick-or-treat, and get candy. And almost immediately after, everytime, the wind blew and she would always placed her hand on her side to keep her dress from flying up._

 _Both Emily and Spencer had decided to dress as the dynamic duo._ Mario and Peach. _Spencer was Peach; she wore a knee-length pink gown with puffy sleeves, a high collar, and deep pink panniers. She had the white gloves that only went just a little pass her wrists and deep pink flats. And of course, her hair was in a ponytail so that she could put her golden crown on her head._

 _Emily, on the other hand, had on a long sleeved red shirt with dark blue overalls and black boots. Her hair fell freely down her shoulders as the red cap rested on the top of her head. The brunette, like Spencer, also wore white gloves that stopped at her wrists._

 _"Do you want us to walk you guys home or no?" Spencer asked. "I mean, it wouldn't be a problem." Her camera swung across her shoulders as she held her hand to her side to hold her dress down as once again. The wind blew._

 _Jenna grabbed her brother's hand. "Michealangelo and Superman will protect themselves on this long walk home. If anyone tries to take our candy . . . or us, I have my nunchucks and he has his uh, whatever those DC comics gave him."_

 _Toby laughed at his sister's lack of knowledge of comics and squeezed her hand. The boy tossed Emily and Spencer a farewell smile, "Thank you for taking us trick-or-treating, Emily. My mom loves you now, I'm pretty sure."_

 _The senior rose her eyebrows with a big smile on her face, "Well I'm glad someone loves me." As soon as those words came out of her mouth, Spencer's cheeks reddened._

 _"Can I have a hug, Spence?" he asked softly, his voice dropping into one of shyness. "You know, for good luck, I guess?"_

 _The blonde let go of her crush's hand and walked over to the brunette boy, pulling him into a tight hug. The hug only lasted for five seconds until Spencer pulled away from him with a smile on her face. "Thanks for coming. It wouldn't have been the same without you with us."_

 _"Blah!" Jenna interrupted, causing her brother to break out of his dreamy state and turn towards her. "See you later, Spencer. Emily, you too. Let's go Toby."_

 _"Wait!" Spencer shouted. Jenna groaned as the slender blonde pulled her camera from around her neck, "Let me get another picture of you guys."_

 _Her friends turned towards the camera and instantly posed, Jenna making funny faces at the camera and Toby giving the girl an embarrassed look. Knowing how easy it was for Jenna to break, she quickly a picture of the two._

 _The camera clicked and a few seconds later, a credit card shaped film slowly appeared from the top of the device. "Do you want it or do you want me to put them in Emily's bucket where the rest of my pictures are?"_

And she was pretty sure they were probably wrinkled. Badly.

 _"Keep it."_

 _"I'll take it."_

 _Jenna tossed her brother a look of annoyance. "Why do you want her to keep it?" She took the picture from Spencer and looked over it. "See, we look pretty cute."_

 _Both girls waved to the sister and brother as the distance between them increased. After they couldn't hear Jenna yelling at her brother for something anymore, they turned the opposite way and began walking._

 _Spencer fiddled with the camera for a little while and then placed it back around her neck. "Toby's social skills are improving, yeah? I mean, it does seem like it right?"_

 _Her crush gave her a look before facing towards the empty sidewalk again. "You're doing an awesome job with him, S."_

 _The younger smiled at the twelfth grader, "Thank you Em. I just . . . I understand what he's going through and I just want him to not go down the same path I went through . . . and if I'm being honest, still am going through."_

 _The two girls combined their fingers together, "Depression takes time to overcome, babe. Eventually, it will go away. You just have to let it make its way."_

 _Spencer's heart stopped, stuttered, and started back again_. _"_ Babe _? You called me babe?"_

 _"Isn't that what people who are in a relationship call each other?"_

 _"We are in a relationship?"_

 _Emily halted her steps causing Spencer to stop walking too. She turned towards the younger girl with a sweet and sort of shy smile on her face. "I mean, I would hope we are." the senior spoke softly. "You're the only person who can make me smile and laugh the way I do. You help me with my homework, you help me get over my insecurities. I enjoy your voice, your hugs, your touches . . . your kisses. I just enjoy your presence in general. My bed feels empty when you don't sleep with me some nights. And I don't want to share that with anyone. Not even Carolyn." the girls both let out a short laugh._

 _"So," the brunette took a deep breath, her heart pounding in her chest. "Spencer Hastings. Will you just . . . just make me the happiest girl alive and be my girlfriend?"_

 _The fifteen year old placed her hand behind her now girlfriend's neck and pulled her in for a deep, passionate kiss. She had gotten really good at the kissing thing seeing as though her and Emily kissed a lot. And for the weirdest things. But she just thought it was all a part of being intimate with someone so she never questioned it._

 _ **Minutes Later**_ _._

 _Spencer and Emily were now in Emily's room laying in bed under the covers. They were just staring at one another and pulling at each other's shirt. Both girls had changed out of their costumes and into gym shorts and a plain white tee, but not before they both posed for more of Spencer Hasting's pictures. And sometimes it was just Emily posing._

 _"I can't believe my birthday is less than a month away." the senior stared at Spencer's shirt while her hands still played with the hem. "I'm almost nineteen, Spencer."_

 _The blonde smiled at her girlfriend. "Wow, and I feel like a baby." she said jokingly. "I have something planned for your birthday."_

 _The senior's eyebrows rose, "Oh yeah? Like what? Are we-"_

 _"No guesses." the blonde placed a kiss on her girlfriend's lips. "Just know that I've planned it and I hope you're going to like it."_

 _The older girl nodded her head with a smile on her face. "I like you_ so _much, Spencer." she whispered against the girl's lips. "So much." Emily's fingers finally slid into Spencer's shirt._

 _Her fingers traced slowly up the girl's sides and her shirt rose with every movement. The freshmen laid on her back, giving her girlfriend better access to her own pale skin._

 _Her breath hitched in her throat as Emily's hands dropped down to the waistband of her gym shorts. She turned her head towards the older girl and gave her an incredulous look. "Really?"_

 _"I'm sorry," Emily giggled, scooting closer to the blonde. Her hand stilled. "I've just been really curious lately . . . I can't help it."_

 _Their eyes remained glued together as Spencer took Emily's hand and lowered it down more. The brunette's hand was now on top of her girlfriend's sensitive area. And even though, there was no actual touch, there_ was _touch._

 _The swim captain's eyes searched the freshmen's for answers. "What do you want me to do?" she whispered._

 _Both girls' hearts were pounding in their chest. Everything was pounding on Spencer though, literally. She took a deep breath, "I'm giving you the chance to become uncurious, but at the same time I'm not because you're not actually_ touching _me. I can still feel-"_

 _The lissome blonde's voice was soon replaced with a loud pleasurable sound as a shockwave of pleasure shot throughout her body. Emily had pressed her fingers down on the girl's center through her shorts. "Woah," the senior let out clearly amazed by what just happened._

 _"I know." Spencer giggled, her cheeks fiery with embarrassment. Her grabbed the girl's hand from her shorts and placed her fingers into hers. "I didn't expect that."_

 _A kiss was placed on the young girl's cheek. "I'm sorry."_

 _"Don't worry," the fifteen year old chuckled. She turned on her side and towards her girlfriend. "It felt great." she spoke softly, getting lost in the maze of Emily's eyes._

 _"Can I . . ." the girl's question vanished as she took time to think about what she was about to ask. "Nevermind." her head turned towards the ceiling._

 _"What do you want to ask me?" a soft smirk formed on Emily's lips. "You can ask me anything, S."_

 _The fifteen year old nodded her head and took another deep breath. She dropped her hand from Emily's and forced her girlfriend to lay on her back. Spencer then shot her hands in the swim captain's shirt. "I want to try it on you."_

"Spencer?" Veronica's voice echoed throughout her ears and shook her from her thoughts. She took note of her senses; the car had came to a halt in front of her girlfriend's house.

She played with the camera in her lap, "Yeah Mom?"

"You never answered my question." her mother laughed. "Why do you think you love her?"

Spencer pulled the letter from her pocket and opened it. She took a deep breath, "It's all in this letter, Mom. And I'll explain later. But today, I have to tell her how I feel before it's too late."

Veronica smiled at her daughter and ruffled her hair, "Then go. Good luck sweetie."

The blonde nodded her head and took a nervous breath. She hopped out of her mom's car and grabbed her things. She walked nervously to her girlfriend's door and gave her mother one final wave.

The mother waved back and watched as her daughter placed all of her things on the ground and prepared her guitar in her hands. Spencer folded her letter and placed it back inside her pocket. She knocked softly on the door and waited for someone to answer.

After a few seconds, Emily's mother answered the door and almost instantly, a smile appeared on the woman's face.

"Emily, Spencer's here for you." she yelled.

"Tell her to come to my room!" the senior yelled back.

The younger girl laughed softly. "I have some stuff for her on the ground. I put them there because I thought she was going to open the door and if she did, I was going to sing to her."

Pam Fields chuckled nodded at the girl. "I'll bring them up there for you." she took sight of the camera lying on the ground, "Do you want me to take pictures also?"

"Yes please." Pam opened the door wide enough for Spencer to walk through with her guitar. The girl walked into the house, immediately smelling the scent of cake. "It smells really good in here." she strummed the strings on her guitar before looking up at Mrs. Field's.

The woman blushed and gathered the things from the ground. She held the camera up to her face and quickly took a picture of the girl strumming her guitar. Spencer laughed at the woman as she saw the look on her face as the picture slid out of the camera.

Pam took the picture of out of the camera and smiled at her daughter's girlfriend. "You look so professional, Spencer." the lissome blonde shrugged her shoulders with a smile and began to walk up the stairs towards Emily's room.

On the final step, she glanced back towards Mrs. Fields to see the lady smiling at her. _In. Out._ She thought. _Deep breaths, Spencer_. _Begin_.

The blonde strummed the guitar strings and began walking towards Emily's room. As she was walking, she saw the light flash from the camera and the heard the photo sliding from the camera. She smiled to herself and began singing.

 _Kiss me out of the bearded barley_

 _Nightly, beside the green, green grass_

 _Swing, swing, swing the spinning step_

 _You wear those shoes and I will wear that dress._

Pam ran towards squealed and ran towards Emily's bedroom. She swung the girl's door open so that Emily could completely her what Spencer was doing for her on her birthday.

As the freshmen stood in the door, the senior's face brightened in both excitement and shock. Her hair was pulled up in a ponytail and her earrings swung on her ears. The swim captain wore her overalls that she had bought for her Halloween costume and a pink crop top as a shirt. She didn't have time to put on her shoes yet so she stood in front of her girlfriend in her bare feet. Nonetheless, Spencer thought she looked beautiful.

Her voice rose again, now gaining eye contact with her girlfriend. She began singing the chorus.

 _Oh, kiss me beneath the milky twilight_

 _Lead me out on the moonlit floor_

 _Lift your open hand_

 _Strike up the band and make the fireflies dance_

 _Silver moon's sparkling_

 _So kiss me_

Pam Fields snapped a picture of the two girls holding eye contact with one another while Spencer was still singing. A smile appeared on Emily's face as she walked closer to her girlfriend, but not close enough so that she would make the girl stop.

"I have the best girlfriend ever, Mom. I swear." the birthday girl whispered to her mother loud enough for the two women could hear.

The blonde continued with a smile on her face, the eye contact never breaking. Pam snapped another picture, but this time just of Emily's facial expression.

 _Kiss me down by the broken tree house_

 _Swing me upon its hanging tire_

 _Bring, bring, bring your flowered hat_

 _We'll take the trail marked on your father's map_

 _Oh, kiss me beneath the milky twilight_

 _Lead me out on the moonlit floor_

 _Lift your open hand_

 _Strike up the band and make the fireflies dance_

 _Silver moon's sparkling_

 _So kiss me_

The fifteen year old backed up a little to do her guitar solo, which took her the longest to learn since it had to be in a perfect tune to fit the song she had chosen to sing for her girlfriend.

And now, seeing the smile on the birthday girl's face, it was all worth it. She glanced at her positioning on the guitar then quickly looked back up towards Emily to see she had a huge smile on her face, but tears were falling.

Spencer gestured for Emily's mother to take the picture as she began singing the final part of the song.

 _Kiss me beneath the milky twilight_

 _Lead me out on the moonlit floor_

 _Lift your open hand_

 _Strike up the band and make the fireflies dance_

 _Silver moon's sparkling_

 _So kiss me_

With the final strum of her guitar, Pam took one final picture of both of the girls once again maintaining eye contact. The woman dropped the camera from her eye. She ran towards Spencer and gave the girl a big hug.

"That was wonderful, Spencer. You're a very talented young lady. Have you ever thought of taking a career in music? I think-"

"Mom!" Emily said, playful irritation in her voice. She wiped the happy tears away from her eyes, then began speaking. "I'm pretty sure you've taken great pictures. Now maybe you should go check on the cake."

The woman smiled at the two girls one last time. "Happy birthday, Emmy." she said happily. "I'll see you girls downstairs."

Emily followed her mother until she was out of the door and then closed the door behind her. She stood with her back facing Spencer. The younger girl placed her guitar on the side of Emily's dresser and walked towards the brunette.

The girl wrapped her arms around Emily's waists, her front pressed against her girlfriend's back. She laid her head against the swim captain's back. "Did you like it?"

"Is that a real question, S?" she felt the girls chuckle against her head. "I loved it."

Spencer reached into her pocket and pulled out the letter that she had written for the brunette. "Stay like this, Em. I want to give you something and I don't want show you while you're looking at me. It makes me nervous." she reached her arm around the twelfth grader and handed her the note.

Emily took the note and opened it quickly. She read it aloud.

 _ECF,_

 _Hey baby. I wrote this for you on Monday, November 17, 2008. Two days before your birthday. I wrote it because I want to tell you happy birthday of course. And some other things, but we are going to get there. Uh well, first of all. I want to tell you how happy you make me. When I first met you, I was a complete mess from Aria dying and my feeling guilty for it. I was so depressed that I didn't even know what to do with my life anymore. But you pulled me out of that and I'm thankful for that. I mean, the thoughts are still there and they come and go, but when you're around, I don't have those thoughts. I like when you cuddle me in bed, I like your goodmorning text messages, your goodnight text messages, and sometimes your occasional spam messages. You make me laugh, smile, giggle, and even snort sometimes with all your cuteness. I remember the Halloween day like it was just yesterday. We spent the whole day together. Kissing, touching, joking, everything. We're all a sucker for somebody, Em. And I'm one for you. God, words can't even describe how you make me feel. Your insecurities are golden. You think I'm wasting my time on you, but babe... Time with you is never wasted. Sometimes I even think that one day, you'll wake up and just grow tired of me and dump me for someone 5027572919 times better. I hope that won't happen. I really do because you're really the most amazing thing that has ever happened to me, Emilia and I think I might love you._

 _Your freshmen girlfriend_ ,

 _SJH._

Spencer hugged the girl's waists tighter as she heard Emily gasp quietly, signaling that she had reached the end of the letter. The freshmen stood on her tiptoes and kissed the back of the brunette's neck.

"I love you." she said aloud for Emily to hear, her heart pounding against her chest, "I love you." she repeated one more time.

"Spencer," the birthday day turned in her girlfriend's arms so that she was facing the blonde. Tears were streaming from her eyes and she had a huge smile on her face, "I've loved you since Halloween."

* * *

 **Okay so I know I promised Thanksgiving and Christmas in this chApter, but it was getting too long for me sooo yeah. If I would have written Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years into one, you would have been looking at like, 14,000+ words. But anyway, next chapter for sure will have Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years in there along with other things. Oh yeah! Uh, my rapping skills will come into play lol. Who will be rapping? Emily? Spencer? Jenna? Toby? Find out next time on Perks of Being Emily's Girlfriend!**

 **And a quick author's note on my other stories! If you guys read them, I mean. If you don't read the others then you can skip this one.**

 **We Gotta Get Out Of This Place; This story is On Hold until I get my groove back. It's like, I know what I want to do with the story, but I just can't find the will to continue to write. But I will remain faithful to it, I promise. I won't let you guys down with this one.**

 **What The Heart Wants; this story is also on hold. Okay, here's what happened with this story. I swear to you I had almost half the chapter written up and when I came to work on it, it was fucking gone and I'm like what the fuck! Sooo yeah, I have to write that chapter over and as soon as I get the motivation, I will.**

 **The Big Reveal; I'm sorry, but this is also on hold until I figure out how to fill that space building up to the reveal. I know who I want A to be, I swear I do! It's just, I need ideas.**

 **Maps; Whenever I finish WGGOOTP lmao. Yep, that's how I'm doing that. I have the first chapter and everything, but I am not publishing anything until I get back on track with WGGOOTP. Oh! And I'm blending it in with S &F so it won't be its own story! That's a unique idea right? Awesome, I tell you! Awesome!**


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